The Best Things in Life Don't Come Easy
by rainletty21
Summary: The way Holly and Gail's life should've been together. (Temporary summary)
1. Chapter 1: Prelude- How We Got Here

**A/N:** Hello again folks! Please forgive me if I'm a little rusty at this. I lost my inspiration for this marathon fic somewhere along the way, but my muse and I are on speaking terms once again so I'm going to give it a go. LOL Thank you for your patience since Let Me Help You wrapped up some time ago, your support for that story was unbelievable and I can't tell you how much I appreciated all the kind reviews. I hope you enjoy this one just as much.

This fic takes place about 8-12 months after episode 3 of Season 5 when the writer's decided to pretty much nuke the Gail/Holly storyline. For the intents and purposes of this story Holly was never offered the job in San Francisco, Gail never met Sophie, and Steve didn't bomb the evidence room. Basically everything after episode 3 didn't happen.

Rated T for now, but will probably get upgraded to M in future chapters

All right guys, here we go. I hope you enjoy. :)

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Chapter 1: Prelude- "How We Got Here"

Every couple has their story.

It's full of ups and downs along the roller coaster known as a relationship and without these lows the highs wouldn't feel quite as exciting.

Holly Stewart and Gail Peck have certainly had their share of both.

What started out as an average, run of the mill friendship eventually evolved into something more. Deep down Holly had known she was screwed the moment she laid eyes on the blonde while Gail had done what Gail does and assaulted the brunette with her patented snark and sass. It was the same snark and sass that ultimately held Holly's interest throughout the afternoon and then some as Gail lingered around the morgue while Holly examined the bones of Robbie Robins, a missing person's cold case turned murder mystery. Sure it was true at Peck had been "assigned" to morgue duty in order to funnel information to the detectives as soon as it was uncovered, but after a while it became clear the forked tongue officer felt a sense of serenity in the sterile, steel room.

As their day drew to an end, Gail mentioned that she was like a cat who created emergency situations to get out of trees- Gail's brilliant metaphor for running from relationships. What Holly didn't realize at the time was that this analogy would come into play a few months later after their friendship progressed into a full blown romantic relationship. Holly had always worried that the act of dating a woman would send Gail running, but to the blonde's credit it was natural to her as breathing. She didn't care what people would think because she knew in her heart what she felt for Holly was real and never shied away from it.

Unfortunately for the pair, the catalyst that caused Gail to lace up her track shoes came in the form of a close, long-time friend of Holly's; a plastic surgeon named Lisa who had an elitist attitude and not a shred of tact. Somehow Lisa managed to voice all of Gail's insecurities about her relationship with Holly as if she had gotten into Peck's pretty little head and read them out loud like a book. When Gail overheard the pair talking at the bar she'd been hurt by Holly's lack of defense and her apparent dismissal of what they had together. Upon hearing Holly say "I'm having fun," Gail had quickly collected her things, made some purposely hurtful comments, and stormed out of the Black Penny both literally and figuratively walking out on the brunette.

Weeks of radio silence from Gail's end ensued and after receiving the silent treatment for so long, Holly felt she had no other option and folded; taking Gail's silence as confirmation they were through. After all, how can you mend a relationship with someone who won't even speak to you?

So in an attempt to safeguard her own heart from any further pain, Holly tried to move on. She let her good friend, Rachel, set her up on a blind date with woman she worked with at the hospital, a physical therapist named Jenn.

It wasn't until a week after being introduced to Jenn that Gail showed up at the morgue with a severed thumb and Oliver Shaw's delinquent teenage daughter, Izzy, that Holly finally had the opportunity to talk to her. Holly tried to keep everything as professional as possible, but couldn't help but notice the butterflies she felt in her stomach at having the officer in the same room, memories of the first day they'd met coming back to her in droves. So when Gail had asked to take her out for a drink to give Holly the explanation she deserved and to try to make amends, the brunette had been up front with her and told her she was seeing someone. The look on Gail's face made Holly instantly want to take it back and agree to go out with her, but luckily for the doc, Peck did what she usually did; she got angry and found an excuse in the form of Izzy's absence to leave the room.

Truth be told, Holly thought Jenn was sweet and easy to talk to and definitely found her attractive, but she couldn't stop herself from comparing the woman to a certain snarky blonde police officer. She realized there was no comparison to be made and as it turns out, you can't start a new relationship if you're not over the last one so Holly regretfully broke it off with Jenn, knowing it wasn't fair to the PT since her heart wasn't truly hers to give.

What Gail failed to mention that ill-fated night at the Penny, but luckily came to realize later was that Holly's lack of defense really had nothing do with defending Gail's career and everything to do with deflecting Lisa's desire to dig into their relationship. Holly hadn't felt right laying her feelings for Gail out on the table for Lisa when she hadn't had the opportunity to tell Gail first.

In the end it had taken the masterful planning of an intervention by Gail's pals at 15th Division locking the pair in the drunk-tank together at the station and refusing to let them go until they managed to sort everything out. After hearts were bared and tears were shed the couple decided to give it another try, but not before Holly made a single stipulation requiring Gail to talk to her instead of shutting down and running when things got tough. The brunette even agreed to give Gail time and space if she needed it as long as she let Holly know what was going on in that head of hers. To Holly it felt like an eternity before Peck agreed to the terms (though in reality it was only a few short moments of pondering), but Gail accepted, promising to do her best to talk to Holly when she was feeling cagey.

Months went by and things were going quite well, Gail had really put the effort into expressing herself more clearly and not turning tail to run for the hills when things got tough. That's not to say she didn't have her minor freak-outs along the way.

The next test came 8 months after the horrible misunderstanding at the Penny when Holly asked Gail to move in with her since the officer spent the majority of her time at the Nerd Lair as she'd deemed it. A good portion of Gail's clothes and possessions had migrated with her each time she stayed the night so Holly being the rational person she was thought it was the logical next step.

The good doc was taken aback when she mentioned it to her girlfriend one night at the Penny after work and the already pale blonde turned white as a ghost before downing the remainder of her drink and using the empty glass as an excuse to quickly leave the table for a refill. Not wanting to push the issue, Holly had let the question drop so they could enjoy their evening and opted instead to simply slip a key to her apartment on the officer's key ring later that night instead.

The following morning Gail had been on her way into parade when she'd noticed the shiny new silver key and instantly stopped dead in her tracks almost causing Chloe to walk right into the back of her.

"What the hell is that?" she'd asked to no one in particular, Price had just glanced at her as if she were crazy and continued on into the conference room. Peck's eyes had been glued to the set of keys on the table throughout the morning rundown and barely heard Oliver assign her to ride with Nick for the day. Once the group was dismissed to begin their patrol Gail had asked Collins for a moment and quickly made a beeline to the locker room to call Holly.

As soon as her phone rang Holly knew the purpose behind the call and to her credit played it cool, simply stating it was just so Gail could come by after shift without waking her or her neighbors at night when Peck worked the third watch. To Holly's surprise Gail simply told her she was as smart as she was beautiful and hung up, never to be daunted by the key's presence again and eventually moved the rest of her stuff in over the course of the next few months.


	2. Chapter 2- The Penny

**A/N:** Hey guys! Thank you for the warm welcome back to the wonderful world of Golly, I'm psyched that you enjoyed the prelude to this little adventure. Thank you so much for the kind reviews, they're always appreciated. :)

Ok kids here we go, enjoy!

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Chapter 2- The Penny

"I'm so glad you called, it feels like it's been forever since we've had a chance to actually get together outside of work," Traci said with a sigh as she set her clutch purse down on the bar top and signaled for the bartender. It had been a hectic few weeks at work that they were all looking forward to putting behind them.

"Yeah I don't think I could've kept up with the pace much longer, I mean a double shift here and there is fine, but almost a week straight is too much," Gail replied. "I was starting to forget what Holly looked like with her eyes open," she added unhappily as she recalled the past five nights of crawling into bed beside her slumbering girlfriend, wanting nothing more than to wake Holly to say hello at the very least, but not having the energy to keep her eyes open a moment longer. By the time Gail awoke for her shift the next morning, Holly had already left for the lab. More work for the police easily translated to more work for the crime lab and so the vicious circle had continued. Sure they tried to grab coffee or lunch when they could, but 60 minutes here and there just wasn't cutting it for her especially since they now lived together.

"Yeah I felt so bad dropping the Patterson case on her at the last minute the other night, I hope she doesn't hate me," Traci said as the bartender set their drinks down in front of them, not bothering to ask what they wanted since they were regulars and rarely changed up their orders.

"She doesn't, but I do. The one night Oliver is able to cut me loose early and you keep my lady down in the morgue all night instead of her being at home in bed with me. You know I don't like to share so don't make a habit of it," Gail replied as they walked through the early evening crowd to a round high top table in the back, trying to keep a straight face, but failing despite being half serious.

"I'll try my best not to monopolize her," Traci said, pulling herself up onto a stool across from Peck. "So, things seem to be going well between you two."

"Yeah...yeah it is," Gail said unable to stop the smile from stretching widely across her face at the thought of a certain Pathologist.

"Look at you, you're grinning like a school girl," Traci exclaimed, smiling at her friend's reaction and causing Gail to blush and look away. "You're damn near glowing!"

"Ok this is normally the part where I'd flip the script and ask you a similar question, but the thought of hearing about my brother in a romantic sense makes me want to vomit so..." Gail trailed off into her beer.

"Well I can honestly say I've never seen you like this," Nash said with a smile, gesturing aimlessly in Gail's direction, "all relaxed and dare I say, happy. I feel like I should send that doc of yours some flowers or something to say thank you."

"I'm not sure if I'm supposed to take that as a compliment or an insult..." the blonde replied, eying the detective suspiciously.

"Oh don't be like that, it's definitely a compliment. You've just been an entirely different person since you met Holly, that's all I meant by that," Traci said, lightly touching Gail's arm.

"She's really good for me, Trace. I don't know what it is about her that just calms me down and mellows me out," Gail said fondly. "I can be open and honest with her and while that would normally scare the shit out of me, this doesn't...it just feels right."

"That's called love, Gail," Traci said with a smile before taking a drink from her glass. "And it sounds like you've got it bad."

"You have no idea..." Gail trailed off, completely straight-faced, meeting Nash's gaze. "I've been thinking a lot about my future lately and Holly is definitely the center piece of it."

"Aww, puppy love looks so adorable on you," Traci commented with a toothy smile.

"Oh we are wayyy beyond puppy love," Gail replied stone-faced, no hint of humor in her eyes.

"Wow, you're really serious about this, aren't you?" Traci asked with a grin. Gail held her gaze for a moment, clearly contemplating something very carefully before looking around and reaching into her coat pocket, sliding a black velvet box across the table. Traci's eyes instantly went wide. "Shut up..."

"You once said everyone deserves to be happy, even me...well Traci I'm more than happy," Gail said, watching as Traci set the box in the palm of her hand and reached for the lid, only to stop short. She glanced up at Gail who nodded silently, giving her permission. Nash slowly pulled back the top as the smile on her face stretched impossibly wider.

"Oh my God, Gail...it's beautiful..." Traci said in awe, removing the diamond ring from the box and slowly turning it in her fingers.

"That's the stone from my Grandmother's wedding ring," Gail said and Traci smiled, knowing how much her grandmother had meant to her friend. "I picked out the band and setting and the jeweler reset the stone for me."

"What's with this inscription?" Nash chuckled, holding the ring at an angle to get a better look at the inside of the band. "Is that a cat...and a lunchbox?"

Gail giggled and looked down at the table, her face flushing slightly. Traci stared at her friend; momentarily in complete awe of the changes she was seeing taking place before her eyes. Gail had always been so serious and hard, rarely smiling let alone laughing. Giggling never happened, but something in the blonde had shifted and Traci couldn't be happier about it.

"When are you going to ask her?" Nash asked, looking up from the beautiful diamond.

"I don't know yet, I'm just waiting for the right moment I guess," Gail replied with a shrug.

"Are you nervous?"

"Not really," Peck replied, "well I'm nervous about her answer, not the actual act of asking her to marry me."

"I would be terrified," Traci said, sliding the ring into the box and handing it back to Gail who quickly stowed it away.

"She's the one, Traci. I've never been more certain about anything before in my life," the blonde said with such absolution and sincerity Nash couldn't help, but smile again.

"I'm so excited for you, I really am," Nash said, raising her glass in Gail's direction who gently clanked her bottle against the side before taking a swig.

"Thanks, just keep it quiet, ok? My brother has a big mouth," Gail said, rolling her eyes at the thought.

"Not a word," Traci replied sincerely. "And I've seen the way Holly looks at you so I don't think you have to worry about her answer."

"Who's answer?" Chloe asked, sliding onto the stool beside Nash much to Peck's dismay and surprise. "What are we talking about?"

"How hideous your shirt is and how crushed you're going to be when someone tells you," Gail deadpanned, her eyes suddenly going wide. "Oops," she added mockingly apologetic.

Though they had become closer since the Ford shooting, Gail still found it difficult to pass up the opportunity to pick on Chloe, especially during times like these when the brunette butted into a very private conversation.

Chloe rolled her eyes before checking her watch, completely ignoring Gail's remark.

"Where's Holly? Dov should be here any minute with new trivia cards and you know he's going to want to play," Price said cheerfully.

"He's probably at home memorizing the answers..." Traci commented under her breath before raising her glass to her lips.

"Hol's working late, but should be here at some point. He'll just have to wait a bit to get his ass kicked," Gail replied, finishing her beer and rising from her stool. "Anyone need a refill?"

"I'll take another mojito," Chloe said sweetly before Gail rolled her eyes at the wimpy drink choice and shifted her stare to Traci who shook her head.

"I can't stay much longer, I have to get Leo from my mom shortly," Nash replied, reaching across to grip Chloe's wrist to glance at her watch. "Actually I can do one more."

"Nice," Gail replied with a nod and headed back towards the bar.

Peck weaved through the quickly growing crowd on her way to the bar to get refills for the table. After placing the order she pulled her phone from her pocket and leaned against the bar. She had just begun typing out a text when she felt a warm pair of arms snake around her waist from behind and pull her in close. Gail quickly turned her head, caught off guard by the sudden contact, but instantly relaxed when she saw Holly resting her chin on her shoulder.

"Hi there," Holly said, smiling before nodding towards the phone in the blonde's hands. "Texting your girlfriend?" she asked playfully when Peck set her phone down on the bar top and leaned further into Holly's embrace.

"Just this incredibly sexy doctor I know… I thought you were working late…" Gail said the surprise evident in her voice.

"I was, but then I realized my new intern starts on Monday so it can wait until then," Holly replied nuzzling Gail's neck before placing a gentle kiss to the delicate skin below her ear, dropping her voice an octave. "Plus, I just really wanted to see you."

Gail felt a familiar spark ignite in her lower stomach at the brunette's comment, the combination of her voice and the feel of her warm breath on her skin causing a shiver to run down her spine.

"Here you go Gail," the bartender said, setting her drinks down in front of her. "Hey Holly," he nodded behind the blonde. "The usual?"

"Yes please," she replied with a smile. He returned a moment later with her beer and Peck threw a few bills on the bar.

"Thanks Liam, that's for hers too, the rest is yours," Gail replied with a quick smile, turning to collect Traci and Chloe's drinks.

"Evening ladies," Dov said cheerfully, coming up to stand beside Holly as he set a box down on the bar and flagged Liam down. "Doc, you ready for a round of trivia? I got this new set of cards that mostly covers pop culture so be prepared to be dethroned. Steve thinks he has a chance, but come on, my girlfriend is the pop culture queen so I'm full of current useless information."

Holly laughed and bowed her head into the blonde's shoulder as Peck glared at him.

"Hey boy wonder, her big brain is tired, let her relax a little," Gail said, looking at Dov over Holly's shoulder before meeting her girlfriend's dark eyes. "Hi, by the way," she said, placing her hands behind the brunette's neck and pulling her in for a proper kiss.

"Oh get a room," Dov remarked mockingly rolling his eyes as Gail opened hers and flipped him off behind Holly's back.

Holly chuckled and pulled back.

"Funny, I thought perverts like you got off on this sort of thing," Gail said raising a brow as Dov shook his head, collecting his bottles and trivia cards from the bar.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer," he said, heading for Chloe and Traci's table.

"That's because it's true," Gail called after his retreating form and Holly chuckled.

"You're awfully feisty tonight," Holly said with a smirk lightly rubbing the blonde's sides.

"Off days are a beautiful thing, so is sleeping in," Gail replied as way of an explanation.

"Mmm, must be nice," the doc smirked, raising her beer to her lips and taking a sip.

"Bad day?" Peck asked, cocking a brow.

"Not really, just long, but it's much better now," Holly replied, leaning in to place a chaste kiss to Gail's lips.

"I tend to have that effect on people," Gail retorted with a smirk as Holly threw her head back and laughed.

"It must be your modesty…" Holly remarked shaking her head playfully.

"Want to play darts before Dov ropes you into nerd land?" the blonde asked, intertwining their fingers.

"Sure I'll throw a few games, just let me order some food first, I'm starving," Holly said. Gail nodded and took a step towards the dart boards only to be pulled back when Holly held her hand firmly. Gail quirked a brow quizzically. "What are we playing for?" she asked suggestively.

Peck stood there for a moment in quiet contemplation before stepping closer to Holly and whispering her wager into the brunette's ear, Holly's mouth instantly went dry as she swallowed, brows rising. She looked Gail in the eyes when the blonde stepped back, cocking her head to the side waiting for an answer.

"Oh yeah, it's definitely on," Holly said, finding her voice before Gail flashed a devilish smile and headed back towards the table to drop off her friend's drinks before heading to the boards. Holly watched her go, noticing the slight sway in the blonde's hips knowing full well Gail didn't play fair and was already trying to distract her.

Holly smirked and turned towards the bar to order her food knowing no matter what the outcome of the game was neither of them was going to lose tonight.

Meanwhile over at the table, Traci and Chloe had been chatting about their favorite reality shows ever since Gail had run by, dropping off their drinks hurriedly and heading for the dart boards a few tables behind them. While it wasn't uncommon for Steve to get quiet during their routine gabfest, Traci couldn't help, but notice his lack of smart-ass comments he normally interjected.

When their conversation wound down and Dov demanded Chloe's attention, Nash turned to Steve who had a small smile on his face, his stare off in the distance.

"Everything ok?" Traci asked, leaning in to speak quietly, not wanting to draw attention. Steve's eyes snapped up to meet hers, caught off guard momentarily.

"Yeah I'm good," Steve replied, the small grin returning when his gaze shifted once again. "I've never seen her so happy."

Traci followed his line of sight, his comment clicking when she saw what had captured his attention.

Both detectives watched as Holly lined up her next shot, holding her arm up to aim the dart as Gail leaned in close, whispering something into the brunette's ear and causing a small smile to stretch across her face. The younger Peck was clearly trying to distract her.

"They are great together," Traci commented and Steve nodded before turning back to Nash.

"I never thought I'd see her like this," he said shaking his head with a chuckle.

"Why's that?" Traci inquired.

"This may come as a surprise, but Gail's always been kind of a loner. When we were kids and our nanny would take us to the park she was perfectly content to sit alone on the swings quietly observing while the other kids played. Even in high school she wasn't overly concerned with having a boyfriend. Don't get me wrong, she dated, but she never 'needed' to have someone around, it was more like she had someone because her friends did. She never really let anyone get close to her until Nick and he was too stupid to realize what he had let alone the hold he had on her…it completely crushed her when he abandoned her in Vegas, though I'm sure she'd try to downplay it if anyone asked …but I was there, I saw how much it affected her…that was the longest car ride of my life," he snickered somewhat sadly as he took a sip from his beer.

"You picked her up?" Traci asked, her eyes going wide.

"Yep, probably wouldn't have graduated from the academy on time if I hadn't been doing as well as I was. It wasn't like she could call our mother to buy her a plane ticket home; mom would've rubbed it in her face more than she already did. Poor girl gets her heart broken and then has to listen to her mother give her the 'I told you so' speech," Steve said, shaking his head at the memory. "It took four days to drive to Nevada and back, but I didn't mind."

"You're such a good big brother," she replied, patting him on the back.

"She's just so different with Holly; I've never seen anyone get through Gail's defenses like she did…for once she's genuinely happy," Steve said, reaching for his beer.

Traci looked at the elder Peck in awe, her mouth slightly agape.

"When did you become so observant and deep?" she asked with a chuckle, bumping her shoulder into his playfully.

"They didn't make me a detective solely on my handsome good looks Nash," he replied, lifting an eyebrow and deepening his voice. Traci laughed and lightly swatted his arm.

"Seriously though, she's different with Holly…I kind of like it," he mused, enjoying the lighter, more pleasant side of his sister.

"You can say that again, she surprises me every day," Traci said, thinking back to their conversation before everyone arrived. She glanced at Steve who had a questioning look on his face. "You'll see," she said as way of explanation and smiled. She was relieved when he didn't push her to explain though deep down she suspected he already had a hunch of his sister's intentions.

"Besides, I think Holly's the first person she's dated that I haven't had to have 'the talk' with," he said, making air quotes with his fingers and Traci threw her head back and laughed hardily, already knowing what he was referring to.

"Yeah Steve, it's a good thing you haven't had to threaten the woman," Traci chuckled, bringing herself back under control.

"I wouldn't be doing my title of Best Big Brother of the Universe any justice if I didn't strike fear into her partner's heart, but I've never felt the need to have the talk with Holly-granted it would be a very watered down version- because I've never gotten the sense that she has anything, but Gail's best intentions at heart. That woman has her head on straight and doesn't play games, that gains my instant approval," Steve concluded, glancing back over at the two women who were doubled over in laughter.

Traci watched Steve watching his sister and couldn't suppress the smile that spread across her face. Steve really was a great brother to Gail and she now understood how special their relationship was to one another. Though Gail could be difficult to be around and didn't open up to people easily it was good to know that she at least had her brother in her corner and whether the younger Peck knew it or not, she had Traci there as well.


	3. Chapter 3- Sweet Victory

**A/N:** Hello again beautiful people! Thank you for all the follows and favorites, I'm so glad you guys are interested in keeping up with this story and haven't given up on the Golly fandom.

Also thank you for the reviews, they're a great inspiration and motivator to writers so keep em' coming! Let me know what you think :)

Enjoy guys!

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Chapter 3- Sweet Victory

"And that my dear, is game," Holly said with a satisfied smile, stretching her arms above her head victoriously after her last dart hit the board, sealing the win. Gail dropped her head onto her outstretched arms on the table, sighing heavily.

"Do you have to be good at everything?" the blonde asked, her question sounding muffled. Suddenly her head popped up hopefully. "Double or nothing?"

"Hun, you've already lost 5 of 7 games and the two you won I didn't have my glasses on because you took them from me. Just admit defeat," Holly said, patting the blonde's arms.

"It wasn't a fair fight…you with your freakishly long arms, it's an unfair advantage," Peck replied, really grasping at straws and causing Holly to chuckle.

"Freakish? You're kind of a sore loser, you know that right?" the brunette asked in mock sadness as she polished off her beer. "Besides, longer arms are a disadvantage in this game, see the trajectory..."

Gail quickly stepped forward, cutting Holly off with a kiss and couldn't help, but feel smug when she stepped back to see her girlfriend's eyes slowly flutter back open as if in a daze, a feeling that Peck was all too familiar with.

"I'm far too buzzed for big, sciencey words right now," Gail replied.

"Mmmhmm," Holly replied cocking an eyebrow and reaching across to snatch the blonde's drink before she could. "I guess you don't need this then."

With that Holly tipped the glass back, downing the remainder before pulling a face and bringing her hand to her chest.

"What the hell was that?" Holly asked, her eyes watering slightly as her throat burned.

"Straight Tequila," Gail replied with an amused grin not feeling an ounce of sympathy for the doc for stealing the rest of her drink.

"Tastes like pure gasoline," Holly choked out, finally recovering.

"Serves you right, nerd. If you were Dov or one of the guys I'd probably hit you for that," Gail said playfully though Holly knew it was actually true having witnessed it firsthand once before.

"Am I the only one who sees the irony if you were arrested for domestic violence?" the brunette asked with a smirk, stepping closer and placing her hands on the blonde's hips.

"Superintendent Mom would love that," Gail replied with an eye roll.

"I just don't want you to be too inebriated for my victory celebration," Holly said quirking an eyebrow suggestively as Gail stepped closer to her, closing the already slim gap that had remained between them.

"Not a chance Stewart," the blonde replied in a low, husky tone, leaning in to press her lips to Holly's. What started as an innocent kiss quickly began to escalate into something more heated courtesy of the alcohol they'd consumed and Holly forced herself to pull back, remembering their very public surroundings.

"You ready to go?" she asked lowly, running her hands the length of Gail's upper arms as the blonde's eyes fluttered open, her mind swimming. This was a sensation she'd never get used to, not even if she and Holly lived to be 100.

"God…do you see what you do to me?" Peck asked her eyes full of affection as she cupped Holly's cheek and leaned back in to place a chaste kiss to her lips. After reluctantly pulling back she grasped Holly's hand. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Still hand in hand, Gail led Holly back over to their table to retrieve her things.

"Where do you think you're going? We haven't even started trivia yet…" Dov said, raising his hand absently.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Dov, it's been a long day and," Holly started to explain, but Gail cut her off.

"You told us to get a room so we are," Gail said pulling Holly towards the door who shot them an apologetic look. "Night losers!" Peck called over her shoulder without looking back.

She had one thing on her mind right now and it had nothing to do with the bar and everything to do with the beautiful brunette at her side.

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"Can I ask you a question?" Gail asked once the pair had settled blissfully sated into bed. Holly lay on her back, her left arm tucked around the officer who was snuggled into her side with Gail's head resting on her shoulder as she absently drew her finger tips across the brunette's stomach through the bed sheet.

"Like I could stop you…" Holly mused sleepily with her patented crooked smile.

"How is it you're still single?" Peck asked curiously.

"I'm single?" Holly asked in mock panic with a smirk, pressing her lips to the top of Gail's platinum head.

"Hol I'm serious, look at you. You're beautiful…and smart…and weird…how did you end up with plain ole' me?" Gail asked shyly, her insecurities bleeding through despite her attempt at disguising them as jest.

"First of all, there's nothing plain about you so don't sell yourself short," the brunette said, playfully pinching the blonde's shoulder. "Secondly…I don't know…I guess my exes just weren't right for me."

"Stupid them, you're a catch," Gail replied, continuing her patterns and Holly chuckled.

"A catch, huh?"

"Yeah," she replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're a freaking doctor for god's sake…"

"Ah so you're just with me for my money…" Holly remarked arching a brow playfully.

"I'm a public servant, someone has to take care of me," Gail replied innocently.

"Well I hate to burst your bubble, but I have 15 years of student loans to pay back so I can't be your sugar mama just yet," the doc replied, the smile on her face evident in her voice.

This is what Gail loved about their relationship, they could banter back and forth without either of them taking it personally, it kept things light and interesting most of the time. She had never met anyone who could take her sass and snark and dish it right back without batting an eye. Most people were put off by her attitude and prickly personality, Holly however, had been drawn to it immediately. She'd been intrigued by this snippy woman who had no qualms about speaking her unfiltered mind.

When Gail remained quiet after a short time Holly thought the blonde had fallen asleep and pulled her closer.

"Hol?"

"Yeah hun."

"Why didn't your last relationship work out?"

Though caught off guard by the question, Holly didn't need to contemplate the answer.

"We wanted different things at different times…" Holly replied and Gail felt her shrug beneath her.

"Like what?"

"She wanted to have a baby, but I wasn't ready. I had just finished my fellowship and had accepted my position at the lab…she didn't want to wait," Holly explained lowly, not a hint of sadness in her voice. "My other relationships just kind of fizzled out after a while."

"No one swept you off your feet huh?"

"Not until 10 months ago…" Holly said affectionately and Gail pushed herself up onto her elbow, looking into her deep brown eyes longingly. God how she could get lost in their depths.

"Really?" Gail asked, her voice almost a whisper as she looked on in disbelief.

"Yeah," "Holly replied with a shy smile as Gail leaned in and kissed her passionately.

"Do you want kids?" Gail asked somewhat sheepishly, placing a gentle kiss above the brunette's heart when she snuggled into Holly's side once again, her hand coming to rest on her girlfriend's opposite hip.

"Someday," Hol nodded wishfully. "You?"

"Yeah…" Gail trailed off before adding, "But I'm not riding a desk for 9 months so you're going to have to carry the kid." Holly pushed her head back into the pillow and laughed hardily, feeling Gail's cheeks bunch up into a smile on her chest, obviously pleased with herself.

"Oh is that right?"

"Yeah, it would be dangerous for the city if I had to be stuck in the station that long. Someone, most likely Dov, would get hurt," Peck answered.

"Well we can't have that now, can we?"

"Probably not. Plus I'd have more access to donuts and less physical activity…it wouldn't be pretty," Gail said before pausing a moment to consider the abundance of sweets she'd have at her disposal, "or it would be incredibly awesome…"

Once their fit of laughter finally calmed, Holly was struck by the full weight of Gail's comments and instantly wondered if she was over thinking things.

Was Gail thinking about a future with her? Did Gail want to start a family with her?

Holly sighed contently, placing another kiss to the top of Gail's head and smiled when a low hum escaped Gail's throat as she nuzzled closer still, their bodies relaxing as they drifted off into a comfortable slumber.


	4. Chapter 4- Off Her Game

**A/N: Hey there everyone! I hope you lovely folks are doing well. Sorry for the slight delay in getting this chapter to you guys, things were a little hectic with the build up to Christmas, but since I had a moment to breathe I wanted to get this posted for you.**

 **Thank you so much for sticking with me, I know the Golly (and Rookie Blue in general) fandom is slowly dying off now that the show has wrapped, but I promise I'm not the type of author to start a story and leave it unfinished. I have a whole slew of chapters to go with this so don't worry about that. :)**

 **At the risk of sounding like a broken record, thank you for the reviews. They really do motivate and inspire so don't be shy ;)**

 **Enough of my babbling, here's the next chapter in this little (or should I say not so little) adventure.**

 **To those of you who celebrate, have a safe and Merry Christmas.** **Enjoy!**

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Chapter 4- Off Her Game

Gail walked into parade and quietly slid into an empty chair just seconds before Oliver entered from the opposite door and began the morning rundown. She breathed a sigh of relief at making it in on time, knowing full well she wouldn't have made it through the day if she'd been put on desk duty for tardiness and unsuccessfully tried to stifle a yawn from escaping her mouth.

Peck wasn't a morning person to begin with and often slept right up until the last possible minute, but that hadn't been the case this morning. She'd been awoken an hour before her alarm was due to go off by Holly's fingers gently trailing up and down her side as the brunette placed butterfly kisses to the side of her neck. Gail's body had instantly responded to Holly's touches and all thoughts of sleep were suddenly forgotten.

Not that Gail was complaining about being disturbed for morning sex, she just found herself a bit sleep deprived after the late night they'd already had. If she was being honest, it was her own fault they hadn't gone to sleep after getting home. She couldn't seem to keep her hands to herself after not seeing her girlfriend for more than a few minutes here and there over the past few days. It didn't help that Holly had literally beaten her at her own game and won the bet while playing darts which only helped to extend their evening once they got back from the Penny.

"Gail…you coming or are you just going to hang here all day?" Dov asked, bringing the blonde out of her thoughts. She blinked a few times, reluctantly pushing the images from this morning aside and realized the room had practically cleared out already.

"Yeah…I just need to grab some coffee first," she replied, rising from her seat and sighed happily when Dov set a cup down in front of her unexpectedly. "Thanks," she said with a nod, cradling the paper cup in her hands as if it were a lifeline.

"You doing ok?" he asked as they strolled through the station and out into the cruiser lot.

"I'm just tired," she answered, not bothering to fight him for the keys and slid into the passenger's seat. Epstein furrowed his brow and climbed in behind the wheel.

"Do I even want to know why?" he asked, flashing a knowing smug smirk. Based on their unexpectedly quick departure last night he could pretty much put it together for himself.

"Nope," she replied, unable to fight the accompanying smile or blush and quickly looked out the window as he backed out of the lot and pulled out onto the road, her reaction easily confirming his suspicions.

"Nice," he commented with a large smile and nod, earning himself a punch in the arm; there was the Gail he was used to.

"You're such a little perv," she replied trying to glare at him, but finding herself unable to muster the energy to put the full weight of her gaze into it.

"What? Can't I be happy that you're happy? I kinda like this softer, gentler Gail," Dov said, checking cross traffic as they cruised through another intersection. Peck didn't bother to respond; instead she opted for rolling her eyes and pulled her phone from her pocket.

OFFICER BOMBSHELL: I'm so tired….

DOCTOR DEATH: Oh yeah? I can't imagine why… ;)

OFFICER BOMBSHELL: All I know is anyone who runs from me today is getting tazed; I have zero energy to chase after them.

DOCTOR DEATH: Are you implying that's my fault, officer?

OFFICER BOMBSHELL: I'm not implying anything; I'm saying _it is_ your fault.

DOCTOR DEATH: Hmm…I didn't hear you complaining this morning. I heard a lot of moaning, but definitely no complaining…I guess we'll have to put an end to 'morning workouts…'

OFFICER BOMBSHELL: WHAT?! NO! YOU TAKE THAT BACK!

DOCTOR DEATH: Well I wouldn't want to city to suffer…

OFFICER BOMBSHELL: Oh you're so noble, Dr. Stewart, believe me the city will fare far worse if I'm crabby and sexually frustrated.

When Holly didn't reply back right away Gail placed her phone on her leg and stared out the window, hoping the day would pass quickly so she could go home and get some sleep. The last thing she needed was for their shift to drag on and prolong her misery, but at the same time felt torn at the possibility of their day being hectic.

Her phone buzzed, pulling her out of her daze and she snatched it from her knee.

"No you are not taking away my…happy time in the morning," Gail started to say with a chuckle, choosing her words carefully as she looked over at Dov who pulled a face, instantly knowing what she was eluding to.

"What am I not taking away, dear?" Elaine's voice came through laced with confusion and a hint of annoyance. Gail felt her stomach drop and the color instantly drained from her already pale face.

"Mom…hi…" the blonde trailed off trying to hide her embarrassment as she silently mouth 'oh my god' at Dov whose eyebrows shot up to his forehead, not envying her one bit. "Sorry I thought you were someone else…"

"Who's trying to take what away from you, now?" the Superintendent asked and Gail wanted to die right then and there.

"Nothing mom, how are you?" Gail deflected, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"Well you'd know how I'm doing if you'd return my calls now wouldn't you?" Elaine said more of a statement than a question and Gail took it for the jab it was.

"Yeah I'm sorry about that, I've been really busy lately," she replied rolling her eyes at herself and her lame excuse, praying she sounded more sincere than she actually felt.

"Why don't you stop by my office for lunch then so we can catch up," Elaine said and Gail heard the underlying order disguised as a suggestion. "Since you're so busy after work all the time I guess I'll just have to monopolize your guaranteed hour of down time. Be here at noon, I'll order from the deli down the street," Elaine said over sweetly making her daughter cringe.

"My shift just started, I won't be able to…" the blonde began, trying to keep her voice from wavering with the uncertainty she felt.

"Don't be late, dear," her mother interrupted before hanging up, leaving the younger Peck in stunned silence, mentally berating herself for not assigning her mother a distinctive ringtone or photo to warn her of her incoming calls. Gail knew it wouldn't have mattered in this case since she hadn't bothered to look first; she'd been uncharacteristically careless and distracted.

"Damn it…" she trailed off, glancing at her watch and frowning at the time; it was already 11:15.

' _Where the hell did the morning go?'_ she thought to herself as Dov glanced over at her.

"Everything ok?" he asked softly, looking over once again to find her glaring at him.

"What do you think?" she replied shortly and he nodded, knowing it was a stupid question.

"Is there anything I can do?" Dov asked, concern lacing his voice.

"Shoot me?" she asked sarcastically.

"Nah, too much paperwork…" he replied, equally sarcastic and they fell silent again momentarily.

"Actually there is something you can do for me," Gail said, taking a look out the windshield to see where they were. "Make a right at the next light; we need to stop at the Thai place over on 3rd."

Dov nodded his head and flipped on the turn signal knowing now was not the time for questions.


	5. Chapter 5- Lunch Guest

**A/N: Hey everyone! Happy New Year! It's hard to believe it's 2016 already, time is flying by.**

 **Thank you again for your continued support. :) As a reward for your faithful following I'm pleased to give you 2 chapters today. This one is a little short, but chapter 5 is a bit longer and full of some drama. Dunn dunn dunnnnnn. lol** **Enjoy! I hope you like it!**

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Chapter 5- Lunch Guest

The morgue had been unusually quiet all morning presenting Holly with an opportunity to catch up on some reports that had been piling up on her desk. All of the tests had been run and the results already analyzed leaving Holly to only fill out her findings in the case notes. She sat with her back to the door, fingers dancing across the keyboard as if on autopilot, her mind uncontrollably drifting back to a certain blonde officer.

The past week had been rough with Gail working double shifts and truth be told Holly always found it difficult to sleep without the sassy blonde snuggled up beside her. After all, how could you sleep soundly knowing the woman you love could possibly be in danger?

Sure she'd sleep when Gail was on night shift, but it was never peaceful, almost as if her subconscious was waiting for a text message or confirmation of some sort that Peck was all right. That feeling had been amplified after the Ford shooting when they were still just friends, now being in a full blown relationship with Gail the sense of unease was always lingering at the back of Holly's mind. Sure she knew that Gail was a very intuitive officer and took all the precautions she could, but when working in public safety there were no certainties or guarantees.

Luckily now that things were calming down at the station, Holly knew she'd be seeing more of her girlfriend and the thought thrilled her. In fact it was that same thought that had provoked her into waking Gail up early this morning before their shift.

Holly had just finished double checking a chemical analysis print out when she heard a knock on the door frame behind her and smiled as she glanced down at the time in the lower right hand corner of the screen.

"You're early," she called out, not turning around from the computer as she continued to type. "Just let me finish my train of thought and we'll go, ok?"

When she didn't get a response she swiveled around in her chair to find Dov walking slowly into the room and she instantly felt her stomach drop, fearing that her greatest nightmare was coming true and he was here to deliver bad news.

She knew in the back of her mind that one day this terrifying scenario could come true, she'd dreaded the thought of it since the moment she and Gail had made their relationship official, but had managed to keep the panic at bay. Now seeing Dov standing here solo, the waves of unease rushed to the forefront.

"What happened? Is she ok?" she asked, bringing her hand up to her mouth and Epstein blinked at her in confusion before the appearance of the situation dawned on him.

"Oh, no, no, no, Gail's fine. She just couldn't meet you for lunch after all so she asked me to bring this by for you," he quickly said, feeling terrible that he caused Holly unnecessary panic. He stepped towards her desk, placing a brown paper bag on the table top and felt relieved when he saw her visibly relax and breathe a sigh of relief. "Sorry, I told her to call you first, but she must not have."

The doctor nodded her head, thankful that Gail was all right. She smiled at the bag sitting on her desk, unable to fight the swell of appreciation she felt in her chest for Gail still arranging lunch for her even if she couldn't make it herself. That thought led her to a question.

"Aren't you two riding together today?" Holly asked and he nodded his head in affirmation, his answer doing nothing to untangle the web of confusion in her head. "Shouldn't you be with her?"

"No way, you couldn't pay me to be with her right now. Superintendent Scary not so subtly demanded she have lunch with her," Dov said, tucking his thumbs into his gun belt shaking his head, "poor girl…"

"You can say that again…" the brunette sighed despite having yet to meet Gail's mother. She removed multiple carryout containers from the bag with a chuckle. "I swear that girl thinks I can eat as much as she does…"

"Oh, one of those is mine. I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone since we stopped," he replied sheepishly, leaning over to pick up the one container before turning to head towards the door.

"You're welcome to stay and keep me company if you'd like," Holly offered, spinning around to save her progress on the report before turning back and flipping open the lid on her Pad Thai.

"Is this some kind of mind trick to throw me off my game for trivia tonight?" Dov asked with mock skepticism causing Holly to arch a brow.

"Only one way to find out…" she trailed off, retrieving two cans of Coke from the refrigerator under her desk and slid one across the desktop in his direction.

Epstein smiled and pulled up a chair across from her.

' _Game on,'_ he thought to himself, snatching a pair of chop sticks form the bag.


	6. Chapter 6- Elaine vs Gail

**A/N: Just a friendly reminder that this is the second chapter posted today so be sure to check out chapter 5- "Lunch Guest" first.**

 **Once again, reviews are greatly appreciated! :)**

 **Happy reading everyone!**

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Chapter 6- Elaine vs. Gail

Gail Peck sat outside her mother's office nervously drumming her fingers on her thigh feeling more like a child who'd been sent to the principal's office for punishment rather than a daughter meeting her mother for lunch. The building's architecture screamed authority, giving off a sense of power and intimidation which suited its upper echelon of police personnel well.

Normally the blonde just sat in the chairs of the foyer waiting for her mother to finish reaming out some poor unfortunate soul before the Superintendent's secretary brought her back into Elaine's office. She'd been following this routine since she was a child, her nanny having brought her and Steve by daily on their way home from school so they could give Elaine a full report on their day. She hadn't enjoyed it then and enjoyed it even less now as an adult.

The phone on the secretary's desk rang causing the mousy blonde behind it to jump and quickly snatch up the receiver before the second ring, no doubt a habit her mother played a part in conditioning.

"Gail, your mother's ready for you," the receptionist said with a warm smile that briefly flickered with sympathy as Peck rose from her seat and entered the office.

"Darling it's so good to see you," Elaine bellowed as soon as the door opened leaving Gail with little doubt that the sentiment was part of the act for everyone within earshot and not truly for her benefit. The shorter, elder Peck quickly wrapped her in a hug only to pull back a moment later to look her daughter over appraisingly. Without another word they slipped into their seats; Elaine taking up her usual position behind her oversized desk.

"So what's so exciting that you don't have time to return my calls?" Elaine asked, folding her hands into her lap.

 _'Geez, way to ease into conversation,'_ the blonde thought idly to herself. Subtlety had never been in her mother's repertoire.

"I've been busy," Gail replied with a shrug.

"What's their name?" Elaine asked pointedly before Gail gave her a questioning look. "Well you haven't been picking up any overtime other than this past week so I know it's not work that's keeping you busy, so who's the mystery man that's distracting you?"

 _'I should've known she'd check my time card,'_ Gail thought as she considered her answer, not surprised by her mother's actions.

"What do they do for a living?" Elaine asked, clearly taking Gail's silence as confirmation that there was someone new in her daughter's life.

Gail didn't want to continue to hide Holly from her parents; she wasn't ashamed of their relationship or least of all Holly herself so the blonde decided that now was as good a time as any to rip off the band aide.

"A doctor," the blonde reluctantly replied hoping Holly's occupation would help soften the blow and saw her mother make a considerable effort to not bounce in her chair with glee.

"General physician? Surgeon?" Elaine pressed, her eyes all, but glowing with excitement. Leave it to her to be more excited about the person's career and social status than the happiness they bring to her child.

"Forensic Pathologist," Gail answered and now her mother literally clapped.

"How did you two meet?"

"On the job, actually."

"Oh that's fantastic, which division do they support?" Elaine continued her questioning and watched her daughter's face blush slightly. "Ah so he works for 15."

' _Damn pale skin,'_ Gail slightly cursed.

"So what's this mystery doctor's name dear?" Elaine asked giddily like a kid on Christmas morning staring at their gifts nestled under the tree. Gail could see her mother mentally flipping through her internal rolodex of pathologists down at the lab.

' _Here goes nothing,'_ the blonde thought, taking a deep breath to steady her nerves and bracing herself for her mother's reaction.

"Holly."

Elaine's brows furrowed together.

"Well that's not a very masculine name…" Elaine trailed off, clearly thinking aloud.

"There's a reason for that," Gail said softly.

"And that is?" Elaine asked, sounding confused.

"Because Holly's a woman," Gail replied looking right at her mother.

"Dear don't play with me, seriously, what's his name?" the superintendent said, her tone taking on a serious edge.

"Her name is Holly. Holly Stewart," Gail said, holding her mother's gaze, letting her mom know she was serious. Elaine's eyes betrayed nothing, but Gail saw her mother's lips press into a thin, hard line as she set her jaw. Silently, her mother rose from her seat and stepped over to the window, looking down at the street below, her arms pulled tightly across her chest.

"Mom," Gail began.

"Didn't you get this…phase out of your system in college like most girls? I know it's natural to be curious, but really, at this age, in this stage of your budding career?" Elaine said, more of a statement than a question and Gail's mouth fell open slightly.

"This isn't a phase or some sort of experiment," Gail began again only to have her mother interrupt.

"Sure it is. You're not gay. I know it and so do you. So have your fun and move on, but do it discretely. I don't want this cloud to hang over your head professionally," Elaine said sternly, turning to hold her daughter's gaze.

"Mom you don't understand…I've never felt like this about anyone before, not Chris and certainly not Nick. Holly understands me; she gets me like no one else does. I don't have to hide or pretend with her, she loves me for me," Gail said quickly.

"Loves…" Elaine scoffs with a roll of her eyes and Gail had to fight to bite her tongue.

"Yes, she loves me…and I love her too," Gail replied softly, but firmly, her eyes pleading with her mother to understand.

"You're serious about this, aren't you?" Elaine asked sounding bewildered.

"Yes, I am," Gail replied without hesitation, praying that her mother was finally coming around. The Superintendent walked back to her desk, leaning forward to place her hands on the immaculately polished wood surface.

"I won't let you ruin what your father and I have worked for let alone what your grandfather has worked for in this service…I won't stand by and allow you to tarnish our family's name with this woman," her mother said nearly spitting out the last word, disgust clearly evident in her firm tone. "Think long and hard about what's more important to you…"

Gail rose from her seat, staring at her mother, not believing what the elder Peck was implying.

"Are you giving me an ultimatum?" the blonde asked, her voice suddenly sounding so small.

"Call it what you want, but I'd choose wisely if I were you," Elaine said, standing up straight and crossing her arms over her chest once again, almost glaring at her daughter.

Gail couldn't believe her ears. Sure she'd been on the receiving end of her mother's lectures more times than she cared to remember, but never had her mother addressed her in such a cold, callus manner. Never had Elaine been so dismissive.

The blonde felt her eyes prickle as tears threatened, but she quickly held them at bay.

"Please don't ask me to choose, mom, because I won't even have to think about my answer," Gail finally said, finding her voice once again.

"Good, it's settled then," Elaine said with a nod of her head, feeling pleased.

"No it's not…mom if you make me choose, I'll choose Holly," Gail said sincerely. "She's the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"You'd turn your back on your family for her?" Elaine asked, the disgust ringing clear.  
"I think it's the other way around…" the blonde retorted, feeling her anger igniting.

"Gail you will stop this now, I will not let you ruin this family's name with this fling of yours," Elaine said sternly, slamming her palm down onto the desktop with a loud thud.

"My relationship with Holly is as far from a fling as it can get. She loves me for who I am, not who she thinks I should be. She accepts me the way I am and she's been there for me unconditionally….I love her mom," Gail explained and shrugged.

"Nonsense," Elaine huffed, crossing her arms. "You will put an end to this or you will no longer be a member of this family, do you understand?"

When Gail stood there silently, eyes cast down to the floor Elaine went in for the kill.

"Think of the shame you'll bring upon yourself and your brother at 15, do you really want to do that to him over some woman?" Elaine pressed dismissively, knowing her older brother's relationship had always been sacred to Gail. Elaine thought she was driving the final nail in the Gail/Holly coffin by bringing her son into the fray when in reality she was fanning the long smoldering embers inside her daughter.

"Steve is not ashamed of my relationship, he approves of Holly and I being together so does most of the division," Gail replied and saw a small glimmer of shock flash behind Elaine's eyes before she quickly went stone-faced once again, but it was there nonetheless and Gail had seen it. "That's right, you don't know everything."

"Enough, I will not have you talk back to me like this," Elaine said sternly.

"In case you haven't noticed mom, I'm not a little girl anymore," Gail said, raising her voice.

"Then maybe you should stop being foolish and start acting like an adult. Put this experiment behind you, focus on your career, and be a Peck for once in your life," Elaine said sternly, quickly losing her patience.

"Oh my god, this isn't an experiment," Gail said, really making an effort to not lose her mind as she shook her head. She took a deep shaky breath in before slowly letting it out. "Mom I can't do this anymore, I'm done being manipulated by you, and I'm done being a pawn. I'm an adult; I can make my own decisions and live my own life and I choose to do that with Holly…I'm sorry that you won't be a part of that, I really am."

Elaine just looked at her daughter, the stone faced mask donning her features once again.

"Well I guess there's nothing left to say then," Elaine finally said, her tone unwavering as she strode past her daughter towards her office door and held it open. Gail turned and followed.

"I love you mom," Gail said sincerely, placing a gentle peck on her mother's cheek before walking through the open door and out into the waiting room. She was only a few steps away when she heard the Superintendent's door click closed behind her wordlessly.

She felt her eyes prickle with tears as she descended the stairs out into the street. She quickly made her way to the cruiser and slumped heavily into the driver's seat before leaning forward to place her forehead on the steering wheel and finally let the tears fall.


	7. Chapter 7- Distracted

**A/N: Happy New Year everyone! Sorry this is a little later than I would've liked to get it to you lovely people, but work has been keeping me pretty busy as of late. So as a token of my gratitude for you guys hanging with me, I'm going to give you 2 more chapters tonight.**

 **As always please let me know what you think.**

 **Enjoy :)**

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Chapter 7- Distracted

Holly sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen sipping on a glass of wine as she worked one of the case summaries she'd brought home from work. She'd been distracted after Dov's impromptu lunch visit and Gail's radio silence since being summoned to her mom's office; she'd reached out to her girlfriend a few times, but hadn't been able to make contact. After wrapping up the report she'd been working on, Holly had packed up her papers and headed home, hoping a change of scenery would help her relax and focus. She quickly discovered her concentration was shot after she caught herself checking her phone for what felt like the hundredth time in 10 minutes.

She'd sent Gail five texts since Dov had gone back on patrol and had yet to hear anything back from her. Holly had even tried calling her on her way home from the lab only to have the call ring out and go to voicemail. While that wasn't uncommon when Gail was working, it left Holly feeling unsettled and anxious knowing she'd been off duty for hours. It wasn't like Gail to stay away at the end of a shift so the extended period of silence in conjunction with Gail's lunch date wasn't sitting well with her at all.

After re-reading the same sentence a handful of times without absorbing a single word, Holly sighed heavily. She didn't believe in doing sloppy work and having such a limited attention span at the moment didn't boast her confidence in her ability to analyze anything tonight. Admitting defeat, she pushed the paper aside and snatched up her wine glass, downing the remainder of its contents in frustration before reaching for her phone and dialing.

"Detective Nash," Traci's voice came through the line after a few rings.

"Hey Traci, its Holly," the brunette began trying to keep calm and already feeling stupid for making the call. "I'm sorry to bother you at home after hours, is this a bad time?"

Traci chuckled softly.

"Really Hol, I'm a detective, I don't have normal hours," Nash replied, a smile evident in her voice. "What's up?"

"Have you or Steve heard from Gail?" the doc asked, trying to keep her tone even.

"I haven't talked to her since parade this morning, but she should be off by unless she picked up a double. She was riding with Dov and we just had a drink at the Penny a little while ago," Nash said furrowing her brow. "Steve's working late so I'm not sure if he's spoken with Gail. Why? Is everything ok?"

"Yes," Holly replied a little too quickly and rolled her eyes at herself. "No…I don't know…" she shrugged.

"What's going on Hol?" Traci asked, her tone switching to one of motherly concern and she waited patiently for Holly to continue.

"I'm a little worried about her, she went to her mother's office for lunch and I haven't heard from her since. I've tried to call, I've sent texts and haven't received a reply back," the brunette answered.

"Wow lunch with Elaine…poor girl," Traci said with a slight shiver as she recalled the Peck family dinner she'd attended with Steve a few weeks back and the intense scrutiny Gail had endured at the hand of her mother. It didn't take long for Traci to realize why Gail was the way she was after seeing Elaine jab and knit-pick the blonde apart all night. Everything from Gail's career to her personal life had been fair game for the Superintendent and it broke Traci's heart to see her friend bow her head in defeat like an animal whose spirit had been broken by their handler. The youngest Peck had been completely void of her usual fire and wit, instead replaced by a hollow shell. And if that's how Elaine treated her daughter in front of guests Traci hated to think of what Gail may have been forced to endure one on one. "I'm going to kick Dov's ass for conveniently failing to mention any of that…I'll get a hold of Steve and see if he's heard from her. I'll call you back, ok?"

"Thanks Trace," Holly replied and Traci could hear the worry in her voice.

"Don't worry, I'm sure everything is fine and she's just blowing off some steam," Traci said reassuringly and Holly had to hand it to her, she had the soothing motherly tone down pat and what was more impressive was that it worked. "I'll call you back in a few."

And with that the line went dead.

Holly tossed her phone on the coffee table and sat back on the couch hoping Traci was right.


	8. Chapter 8- Safe Haven

**A/N: This is the second chapter I've uploaded this evening so make sure you've checked out chapter 7- Distracted before reading this one.**

 **Thanks again for your continued support!**

 **Happy reading!**

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Chapter 8- Safe Haven

Steve had been making his way across the parking lot to his car when Traci's call came in and after explaining the situation it became abundantly clear to him what must've gone down at lunch between his mother and sister. Elaine had been blowing up his phone all afternoon and he was now thankful for having dodged her calls. Their mother had a suspicion- that she had repeatedly tried to get him to confirm- that Gail was seeing someone and after hearing of his sister's disappearing act he figured she'd probably been hounded until finally giving in, which only meant one thing.

Elaine now knew about Holly.

After calling the Penny and speaking to the bartender who confirmed Gail's absence tonight Steve had a pretty good idea where to find her. So he set his course and headed just outside the city's limits to a small recreation area their family had frequented on the weekends when they were growing up. While Gail had always claimed to hate going out there for family cookouts it seemed to be the place she'd always run to for solace.

Steve pulled into a parking spot at the top of the hill overlooking the beach area and breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted Gail sitting down near the breaker wall by the water, her platinum locks blowing lazily in the wind. He made his way down to the water's edge and removed his jacket just before he sat down beside her, wrapping it around her shoulders.

Gail pulled the collar of the coat closer, shivering slightly from the breeze before tearing her gaze from the water to look at him, not at all surprised by his arrival since he'd found her here time and time before. To Steve's amazement her eyes were clear, not red and puffy from crying like he'd expected them to be and he couldn't help wonder if that was a good or bad thing. He offered her a small smile before nodding towards the brown paper bag between her feet.

"Whatcha got there?" Steve asked and she silently leaned down and handed him the half empty bottle of tequila. He took a sip before passing it back. "You ok?"

"Are you kidding? This isn't enough to do any damage," she scoffed, taking a pull from the bottle and feeling the familiar and somewhat comforting burn of the liquor as it slid down her throat. "I've been here a while so I'm not even close to being buzzed," she finished, sounding disappointed.

Steve smiled and briefly dropped his head at Gail's deflection of his question.

"I meant are you ok after how things went with mom," he clarified though he was certain she already knew that was his original question.

"How do you know about that?" Gail asked defensively.

"Well let's see, mom's been hounding me about your personal life for months and then you go off the grid after being forced to have lunch with her today… doesn't take a detective to figure out what happened," Steve said glancing at her before looking out at the water. Gail scrunched up her face.

"Off the grid?"

"Yeah, Holly's been worried about you, you haven't returned any of her calls or texts," he said like it should've been obvious.

"I haven't gotten any, I've had my phone…" she started as she dug the device from her pocket and closed her eyes frowning, "on silent," she shook her head and sighed heavily. "Damn it…Holly's going to kill me…"

"Nah you're a Peck, I think you can take her," Steve replied with a smirk bumping his shoulder into hers and noticed the heavy, nervous chuckle she released.

"Not according to our mother I'm not," she said lowly causing Steve to furrow his brow. "Not anymore…"

"How's that?" he asked.

"I told her about Holly and in long drawn out dramatic fashion she disowned me…" Gail trailed off, taking a longer pull from the bottle before handing it to her brother who gladly accepted it after that tidbit of information.

"Damn…" he remarked lowly.

"I guess it doesn't really matter, I've never lived up to the Peck name in her eyes anyways so…" she trailed off with a shrug.

"That's not true," Steve said shaking his head.

"Yes it is. I remember when you graduated the academy and received your badge she was beaming from ear to ear and going on and on about how proud she was of you. Do you know what she said to me when I graduated?" she asked and he shook his head no. "Don't screw up."

Steve dropped his gaze feeling a wave of anger for his mother roll through him at Gail's admission, not knowing that his mother had tarnished what should've been a very happy day for his sister.

"I pretty much knew from that point on, no matter how hard I worked or what I accomplished it would never be enough for her," Gail said, shaking her head and bringing the bottle to her lips. "I never stood a chance," she said and took a sip.

Regardless of how much he disliked it, growing up Steve knew that their mother had played favorites when it came to he and Gail and truth be told he knew Elaine tended to lean more in his favor, but never in a million years had he thought it was this bad. It not only flared his anger towards his mother, but it also raised animosity towards his father for allowing it to happen. Sure their dad had tried to make up for the lack of warmth Elaine was unable to provide the pair, but never had Bill stood up to Elaine, never had he put her in check on their behalf. Deep down Steve truly felt that it was that lack of opposition that allowed his mother to turn into the superficial, power hungry woman she'd become.

"What happened in there today?" Steve asked and was immediately unsure if he really wanted to know the answer.

"She gave me an ultimatum to try to get me to leave Holly," the blonde replied, not bothering with the formality of telling him her answer since he already knew how much she loved the doc. "I'm sorry if that leaves Captain Awesome as the sole target in her crosshairs," she added with a chuckle as she used his self imposed super hero nickname from their childhood and patted him on the back. Her tone grew serious again. "She knows you know about Holly so I apologize in advance for the shit she's going to give you. I tried to keep you out of it, but when she tried to play the shame card I kind of spoke without thinking."

"I'm not too worried about it…but I am worried about you. You know I love you and you're still my little sister regardless of what mom says," Steve said, wrapping her in a hug. "I'm proud of you and I support you no matter what," he said kissing her on top of the head.

"Yeah I know….and in a weird way I think that's why I'm not that upset about this. Let's face it everyone at 15 has been more supportive and encouraging than she's ever been…as long as I make you guys and Holly proud that's all I really care about," Gail said sincerely as her eyes welled with tears before she quickly blinked them away, refusing to let them fall for Elaine. "They're my family."

"Well I think that's a given since all of us have your back unconditionally," Steve replied with a smile as Gail shivered again when the wind gusted.

"Come on, let's get you home to Holly, the poor girl is probably worried sick by now," he said rising to his feet and extending a hand to help Gail up.

"Yeah she's good at making a fuss over me," Gail said with an affectionate smile. "I think she likes me a little bit."

This earned her a full, belly laugh from her brother as they neared his car and climbed in.

"Nah she doesn't like you," he said with a smirk as he put the car in reverse. "She loves you."


	9. Chapter 9- Elephant in the Room

**A/N: Hello lovely people! First off let me start by offering my sincerest apologies for the lack of timely updates, I received a promotion at work and life has been a bit more hectic than I anticipated. With that being said, I have the next few chapters already mapped out and some partially written so the updates should come more frequently.**

 **Secondly, thank you so much for your patience and for sticking with me.**

 **Without further ado here's chapter 9, enjoy! :)**

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Chapter 9- Elephant in the Room

Gail walked into the apartment, dropping her bag on the floor and setting her keys on the breakfast bar. She had half expected to find Holly anxiously perched on the couch waiting for her, but instead found a mostly darkened room save for the small lamp in the corner she usually left on for Gail when she was working late and had already gone to bed.

Despite the timing of it all Gail stood in the middle of the living room looking around the apartment feeling a surprise sense of wonder; completely amazed at the life she and Holly had already built for themselves. She hadn't realized until the doc came along that she had even wanted this for herself let alone that this was a possibility. Now that she was here, Gail couldn't imagine being anywhere else. It was this new found certainty that helped to reinforce the notion she'd made the right decision earlier today.

After rounding the couch, Peck switched off the light and made her way up the stairs and down the hall.

She slowly opened the bedroom door and was surprised to see Holly sitting up in bed leaning back against the headboard, her long locks pulled back into a ponytail with a book in her lap. The brunette's head shot up at the sound of the door opening.

"Hey," Holly said, setting the novel on the nightstand. She wanted nothing more than to leap out of bed and take the blonde in her arms, but fought against the urge as she tried to get a read on Gail's mood. "How was your day?"

Gail quirked an eyebrow and chuckled slightly at Holly's attempt to ease into conversation, knowing full well she was chomping at the bit to make sure Gail was all right.

"Really Hol?" Gail chuckled again, loving the woman to pieces for her concern. "Let's just address the big pink elephant in the room, we don't need to do the whole small talk thing first," she said sincerely as she leaned back heavily against the door, letting Holly off the hook and smiled when the doc nodded and released the breath she'd been holding.

"I didn't want to rush you," Holly began, playing with the edge of the comforter absently.

"I know and that's why I love you, nerd," Peck smiled, seeing Holly visibly relax a little. The blonde felt a wave of guilt wash over herself as she took in Holly's exhausted appearance, knowing she was more than likely the cause of it.

"Are you ok?" Holly asked, meeting Gail's blue stare, her concern evident.

"All things considered, yes…it went pretty much the way I expected it to," Gail said and shrugged. "It is what it is."

"And what is it exactly?" Holly asked timidly, wanting to understand.

"I've basically been disowned," the blonde answered nonchalantly.

Now Holly threw the covers aside and quickly climbed out of bed, taking Gail's hands in her own. Only then did Gail realize that Holly wore a baggy red and black checkered flannel shirt that hung just below mid-thigh in the most tantalizing way, covering just enough to leave the rest to imagination. She couldn't help, but swallow hard as her eyes raked up and down Holly's impossibly long, toned legs.

"Hun, I'm so sorry," Holly said furrowing her brow and searching Peck's eyes.

"Don't be, it's not your fault," the blonde replied with a haphazard shrug.

"Yeah it kind of is…" Holly pressed, feeling guilty and angry all at once.

"No it's not," Gail said emphasizing each word firmly. "You don't understand my mother, she has standards that no one can live up to; if it wasn't this it eventually would've been something else…I never fit the 'Peck mold' anyway…it was only a matter of time."

"Do you really believe that?" Holly asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yes and no," Gail answered.

Holly tilted her head to the side and gave the blonde her patented 'cut the shit' look, a look Gail was all too familiar with.

"That woman manipulated me my whole life to do what she wanted me to, but this is where I draw the line," Gail said and Holly shook her head.

"But Gail…"

"No buts, I'm not willing to give you up to keep that woman around. You make me happier than I've ever been or even thought was possible, Hol. You believe in me and support me like no one ever has…it's really a no brainer," Gail reassured, rubbing her hands up and down Holly's arms.

Holly's eyes welled with tears as she took in Gail's words. While she loved how open and honest Gail was being about their relationship, she couldn't calm the nagging feeling in her stomach that the blonde was truly hurt by her mother's actions. Either Gail really was okay with what went down or she was doing a damn fine job of hiding it from her. Holly hoped it wasn't the latter.

"Talk to me, I can hear your big brain running a hundred miles an hour," Peck said lowly with a small smile, grasping Holly's hands in hers and interlacing their fingers. The doc hesitated, glancing down at the floor trying to find the right words.

"We tell each other stuff, right?" Holly finally asked and the blonde nodded yes. "Then please tell me how you're _really_ doing, you can't possibly be ok with this…"

"Of course I'm not ok with it, but I can't change my mother's mind and I can't change my feelings for you," Gail replied and Holly sighed. "I wouldn't if I could."

"You're being so nonchalant about it…"

"What do you want me to do? Cry? Throw things?" Gail asked with a laugh, holding her free hand out to the side.

"If it helps, yes," Holly answered. "I don't want you to keep anything from me because I know if our roles were reversed this wouldn't be my reaction and knowing you as I do, I have a hard time believing this is yours," Holly finished looking Peck firmly in the eyes, trying to put it delicately.

"I don't know what to say, Hol. Maybe it hasn't really hit me yet…maybe I'm somewhat relieved that I'm finally out from under her grasp...maybe I'm numb to all my mom's bullshit…" Gail trailed off with a shrug. "She's never really been a mom to me so it really doesn't feel like much of a loss, maybe it will later…"

"But Gail your family…" the brunette started, but Peck cut her off.

"Family shouldn't do what she did. Family shouldn't lay down an ultimatum because they don't agree with your lifestyle, family shouldn't judge you for something you have no control of, and family sure as hell shouldn't be more concerned with their reputation than your happiness," Peck replied quickly, trying to keep her anger in check and after a few moments took a deep breath. "I realized tonight who my real family is; Traci and Steve and Oliver and Chris and Dov…even Chloe, Nick and Andy," she said making a face at the last few names mentioned before turning serious once again. "But most importantly you."

"Just know that I'm here for you, ok" Holly said after searching the blonde's crystal blue eyes, seeing the honesty within them. "Anytime you want to talk…"

"There's never been a doubt in my mind," Gail replied, a small smile spreading across her face as she closed the gap between them, sliding her hand behind Holly's neck to pull her in for a tender kiss. After a moment the brunette pulled back and rested her forehead against her girlfriend's, the tension in her body finally easing.

"I love you," Holly whispered, still feeling the guilt of the situation.

"I love you more," Peck replied tilting Holly's chin towards hers and capturing her lips once again. Holly took half a step forward and pinned Gail against the door as the blonde's hands ran up her back. While Holly's lips trailed wet kisses down her neck, Gail's fingers moved over the doc's shoulders to her chest, undoing buttons as they traveled downward before pushing the flaps of the flannel shirt open. Gail slumped forward to grasp Holly by the hips and to Holly's surprise picked the brunette up, her long legs wrapping around the officer's waist as she slowly carried her back towards the bed; their lips never parting in their journey.

Once Gail had gently deposited her gorgeous girlfriend on the bed she quickly pulled off her boots before crawling onto the mattress to hover atop the brunette who clearly looked distracted.

"I can hear that big beautiful brain of yours going a mile a minute again…" Gail said with a smirk, her finger trailing an absent line across the doc's exposed abs. Holly's eyes slowly met Peck's gaze telling her everything she needed to know.

"Hol that was my old life and I'm not looking back anymore…it's time I focus on what's most important to me and that's my future with you," Gail replied sincerely, not breaking her girlfriend's dark gaze that instantly turned watery.

Suddenly, Holly reached up and wrapped her hands around the back of Gail's neck and pulled her flush to her, their lips hungrily seeking each other out and in that moment any lingering doubt Gail may have had lurking in the back of her mind vanished in an instant.

Holly was her end game.


	10. Chapter 10- Friendly Advice

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you for the love shown on chapter 9, it's greatly appreciated. Luckily for you kind folks work has been a bit slow lately and my muse has been talking to me so I have a few more chapters (3 more after this one to be exact) ready to go for you.**

 **As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.**

 **Enjoy! :)**

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Chapter 10- Friendly Advice

Despite having a heavy caseload on her plate Holly found herself in her office deep in thought instead of typing out her notes from this morning's autopsy. On her computer screen sat a half empty word document, the blinking curser flashing almost tauntingly at her, but she found she just couldn't concentrate. Every time she'd start to playback the tape recorded findings she'd only get a few lines in before her mind began to wonder off topic and she' d cease typing all together.

She couldn't stop thinking of Gail and the disaster that had transpired from her lunch with Elaine the day prior. Holly couldn't comprehend how a mother could willingly turn their back on their child so effortlessly. She'd heard about people like Elaine who'd thrown their kids out of the house for being gay, but never had she witnessed such a cold act firsthand. Then of course there were ignorant people who mistakenly thought being gay was choice and it baffled her that they never stopped to think about how ridiculous that concept truly was.

Who would choose to live a life of scrutiny and ridicule? Who would willingly choose to make their lives more difficult?

Holly shook her head, thinking back to that tear filled night during her first year of medical school when she'd finally come out to her parents. She'd prepared herself for the worst case scenario, even going so far as to put extra money aside in case she needed to get an apartment quickly.

In the end all the anxiety and worry had been for not. After telling her parents they had simply wrapped their arms around her and said it didn't matter who she was with as long as she was happy.

In all honesty Holly shouldn't have been all that surprised by her parent's reaction, they'd always been supportive of her so she had no reason to think that situation would be different, but the fear of it all had still caused her to doubt herself. Knowing the apprehension she had felt back then made it difficult for Holly to fathom what Gail must've been feeling when it became clear she'd have to tell Elaine about their relationship. The poor woman must've been terrified.

Holly wasn't all that surprised by the Superintendent's reaction. After all she was a woman whose seemingly only concern was her superficial appearance and hard-nosed reputation to the department. Having a "controversial" daughter would have almost certainly frightened her into thinking her status was in jeopardy when in reality Gail's sexuality bared no reflection on Elaine or Bill.

"Earth to Holly," a voice called from the door and the doc swiveled around in her chair to find her best friend Rachel halfway across the room. "You ready for lunch?"

 _'Oh shit,'_ Holly thought, feeling her face flush for a moment; she'd completely forgotten.

"Yeah just let me save this real quick," Holly replied with a smile to help play it off and turned back to her half empty screen, rolling her eyes at herself. How long had she been working on transcribing these notes?

"Cool, I was thinking we could try the new Italian place over on 3rd," Rachel said enthusiastically as Holly followed her out of the office.

The ride to the restaurant seemed to take no time at all, not that Holly was paying much attention to Rachel's tale of the intern hell she was dealing with over at the hospital. She had managed to supply a few well-timed "huhs" and "yeahs" throughout, but truth be told Holly hadn't caught much of it. Even after they'd taken their seats at the table she'd had a hard time focusing and barely remembered looking at the menu let alone ordering her lunch.

"And then I hid the alien's body in the morgue so I'm going to need you to come pick that up," Rachel said and Holly's head snapped up, looking at her quizzically.

"Huh?"

"Do I have your attention now?" Rachel asked with a chuckle and the doc instantly felt horrible for zoning out on her best friend.

"I'm sorry, I was miles away," Holly apologized sincerely, but luckily hadn't seemed to hurt Rachel's feelings.

"No shit," Rach chuckled, taking a sip of her water. "You better tell that gorgeous blonde of yours she can't keep you up all night cuz all that physical exertion is affecting your ability to focus in the morning."

For the first time that day Holly genuinely laughed and lulled her head forward, trying to hide the blush creeping into her cheeks as flashbacks of the previous night flowed through her head.

"As good as it was I wish I could say it was the sex that has me all out of sorts today, but I'd be lying," Holly replied disappointedly, meeting her friend's gaze.

"What's going on Hol?" Rachel asked, her tone becoming serious.

"Gail told her mom about us yesterday," Holly replied and wasn't surprised when Rachel's eyes went wide in response.

"And? How'd that go?"

"Not good…" Hol answered sadly, "she disowned her."

"Are you serious?" Rachel exclaimed, her hand going to her chest. "That's horrible, how could she do that?"

"I don't know, but she did. I knew Elaine was a piece of work, but for some reason I didn't expected this," Holly said, feeling her distain growing for the elder Peck she'd never met.

"How's Gail taking it?"

"Surprisingly well I think."

"You think?"

"Yeah she almost seems relieved to have her mother out of life, but I'm having a hard time believing that….i don't know. I guess I'm worried that down the line she's going to resent me for her mother's choice…" Holly said, a look of concern flashing across her face.

"Hol she's wild about you, trust me, she's not going to resent you," Rachel attempted to reassure.

"I know, but I can't help but feel responsible for my part in all this," Holly shrugged.

"What part? You fell in love with her and have nothing but her best interests at heart, it's not like you're running around snatching hearts and ruining lives, Holly. Her family should be grateful Gail has a genuine, kindhearted person like you to share her life with," Rachel reasoned.

"I know, but I still can't help but feel guilty," the brunette replied, absently playing with her napkin. "I'm thinking about talking to her."

"Who? Gail?"

"Elaine," Holly said, "maybe I can explain it to her and make her see…"

"No, no, no. Bad idea," Rachel quickly cut in, waving her hands.

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"I learned a long time ago to stop asking that question…Let me give you some friendly advice, let Gail deal with her mother and stay out of it as much as you can. Not everyone has the parents you do, your folks wouldn't care if you shaved your head and moved to Utah to marry six wives," Rach said with a chuckle and Holly joined in.

"That's a lovely picture," the doc remarked with a smile and arched brow.

"You know what I mean Hol, not everyone is as open-minded and accepting as they are and unfortunately I don't think there's anything you can say to Elaine Peck to make her all right with you and Gail being together," Rachel replied.

"Be that as it may, I still feel like I need to at least try though, for Gail," the brunette said. If there was one thing Holly hated the most it was the feeling of being helpless.

Rachel sat in quiet contemplation, she understood Holly's need to try to make things right with the Superintendent since the brunette had played the role of peacemaker in some form since they met. Elaine Peck's reputation of being bullheaded stood supreme and the odds of Holly changing the officer's mind were not in her favor, but by the same token, Rachel understood her the desire to try. If nothing else it proved as another example of how deeply Holly felt for Gail.

"Ok," Rach said with a deep breath, "what are you going to say?"


	11. Chapter 11- Showdown

**A/N: Hello again everyone! I hope you've all had a great summer. Thank you again for your kind words and continued support for this fic! I love the Golly fandom so much and I'm so relieved to see people are still interested in these characters.**

 **As always, reviews and feedback is greatly appreciated! :)**

 **Enjoy!**

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Chapter 11 - Showdown

Elaine Peck sat at her desk reviewing metrics of the precincts under her command, pleased to see most of them were exceeding her expectations while there were still a few divisions who could use a little "encouragement" as she liked to call it. She had just finished perusing 27 Division's stats and was about to start on 15th's when the phone on her desk buzzed. Without looking up from her papers she hit the intercom button.

"Yes Becky?" Elaine asked in a stern tone.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you Superintendent, but you have a visitor here to see you," Becky said, her voice trembling slightly as she waited for Elaine's response. Deep down Elaine relished the fact that her assistant feared her.

"Well who is it? I don't have anything on my calendar…." Elaine asked pointedly, still staring at the speaker as if Becky would feel the weight of her gaze.

"Dr. Stewart from the Medical Examiner's office, ma'am," Becky replied a moment later, her voice still shaking.

Elaine glared daggers at the phone, immediately feeling a cold knot form in her stomach as her face flushed red hot with anger. How dare this woman show her face here after what she'd done to her family, the nerve and gull of this woman was astounding.

"Show her in," Elaine commanded shortly, closing the file folder on the desk and leaning back in her chair, her elbows resting on the armrests as she looked expectantly at the door. A moment later a typical, nervous looking Becky opened the door and stepped aside to let a tall brunette with glasses enter the room before retreating once again.

Elaine remained silent, sizing up the woman before her, and though she wasn't exactly sure what she'd been expecting, this certainly wasn't it. The brunette standing before her was lean, toned, and athletic with dark brown eyes wearing a gray jacket over a deep navy blue button down shirt with tight blue jeans. She had an air of confidence and warmth that nearly radiated from her. Regardless of the distain Elaine felt for this woman, she was beautiful to say the least.

"Superintendent, thank you for seeing me. I'm Holly Stewart, Forensic Pathologist for 15," Holly introduced herself, extending her hand across the desk to Elaine who merely glanced at it, not moving a muscle.

"I know who you are," Elaine replied shortly, fixing her gaze on the woman who didn't seem surprised by her brush off and pulled back her proffered hand. "My question is, what are you doing here?"

Holly saw instantly that Gail took after her mother; they were the same height, similar body type though Gail inherited a few more curves- which Holly wasn't going to complain about- they had the same piercing blue eyes with a guarded, hard gaze, and sharp tongue. She was certain if you plopped a platinum wig on the Superintendent it would be like looking into the future at Gail 20 years from now.

"I'm here to talk to you about Gail," Holly began and Elaine's expression turned smug.

"What about my daughter?" the Superintendent asked, tilting her head challengingly to the side and Holly knew this wasn't going to go smoothly.

"I heard what happened the other day and I think if you just gave us a chance to…" the brunette began and Elaine couldn't help, but roll her eyes and scoff.

"Us…" Elaine said mockingly, shaking her head.

"Yes, I think if you gave us a chance to show you how right we are for each other and how much we care for one another than we could all get passed this…misunderstanding," Holly said, struggling to find the right word for the situation.

 _'Clusterfuck sounds more accurate,'_ the brunette thought absently.

"Well you're mistaken Ms. Stewart," Elaine began and Holly knew immediately that Elaine addressing her as miss rather than doctor was a calculated move on the Superintendent's part. A woman of her rank and stature didn't allow titles to go disrespected. While Holly couldn't care less if she was addressed as doctor, she knew it was just another way for Elaine to be cold to her. "There is no misunderstanding here, my daughter made her choice and now has to live with it."

"The way I understand it, it really wasn't her choice, it was more of an ultimatum that didn't go your way so you cut her out," Holly said, keeping calm, but getting her point across that she knew the truth. Elaine stared at her, waiting for Holly's resolve to falter and the elder Peck had to admit she was slightly impressed when the doc stood her ground unfazed. The woman had backbone, that much was certain.

"Be that as it may, can I ask why a woman of your education and success wants to be tied to a beat cop with no ambition?" Elaine asked her eyes icy as she rocked in her chair slightly before continuing. "I'm sure a woman who has advanced so quickly in her career at such a young age would be better suited for someone with equal motivation…you're a well-educated woman, I'd expect someone like yourself would prefer to be with someone more on your level."

"Are you trying to say I'm too good for your daughter?" Holly asked, her brow furrowing and the carefully placed mask slipping at Elaine's statement. Holly couldn't understand how someone,- a mother at that- could think so little about their own child to say such a thing. Normally parents didn't think their child's partner was good enough for them, but this was a first.

"Look I know my daughter," Elaine began, leaning forward to rest her arms on her desktop and Holly didn't miss the fact that the Superintendent hadn't used Gail's name once since entering her office. "Since graduating the academy she's been treading water at 15, not making any real progress. She was lazy and perfectly content to continue doing what she's doing. When I finally thought she was moving forward after taking a few undercover assignments, she goes and gets herself suspended for improperly searching a prisoner…if it weren't for me they would've taken her badge, but I managed to get her another chance. What does she do? She pisses it away continuing to work the streets." Now Elaine's voice was rising in anger. "She should be a detective by now for god's sakes or a training officer at the very least."

Holly stood there listening to Elaine getting worked up, before shaking her head.

"I don't think you know Gail at all," Holly said, deliberately saying her name. "The person you just described is nothing like the woman I know. Gail is ridiculously smart, observant; quick on her feet…she's a great cop. Ask any of the officer's she works with, they'll all tell you she's the one they want watching their back when shit goes down. She's loyal and compassionate and thoughtful. She has a sense of humor and personality like I've never known."

"Just wait, she'll prove you wrong," Elaine remarked, crossing her arms across her chest defiantly.

"For being her mother you're awfully eager to see her fail," Holly challenged. "I'll support whatever career path Gail chooses whether it's becoming a detective, a T.O., or continuing to work the streets. I'll be proud of her regardless of what title she decides to hold because that's what you do for the people you love; you support them unconditionally. As long as she's happy then I'm happy."

"You don't understand the expectations that come with being a Peck," Elaine said, silently refusing to explain it further to this outsider. Elaine Peck didn't have to explain anything to anyone.

Holly dropped her head forward, letting out a heavy sigh as she shook her head.

"I was really hoping this would go differently, but I can see that I'm not going to get anywhere so I won't waste anymore of your time or my own," Holly said, stepping towards the door, but stopped with her hand on the knob. "Superintendent I'm sorry it's come to this, but mostly I'm sorry that you're going to miss out on knowing how great of a woman Gail really is."

And with those parting words Holly walked out of Elaine's office feeling a mixture of contentment and disappointment. While the meeting hadn't gone as she'd hoped she was still satisfied to have made the attempt, but sadly now had a better understanding of the torture Gail must've endured growing up under the Superintendent's roof. It was one thing to have expectations, but it was another to be degrading.

It was from this newfound insight that came a vow Holly swore she'd keep. She promised to never let Gail experience that sort of pain ever again and she vowed to show the blonde everyday of their life together that she was beautiful, loved, and that she mattered. Gail may not have felt as if she belonged in Elaine Peck's world, but Holly swore she'd prove Gail belonged in hers.


	12. Chapter 12- Pity Party

**A/N: Hello lovelies! Thank you again for your continued support, I really appreciate it. It's nice to see the Golly enthusiasts are still out there.**

 **The next 3 chapters are almost done being edited so be on the look out for the next update soon.**

 **As always feedback is highly appreciated, it really gives me an idea if what i'm trying to portray is being received well and in the manner i'm intending it to be.**

 **Without further ado, here's chapter 12. ENJOY!**

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Chapter 12- Pity Party

"How are things going with Katie?" Dov asked, handing the waitress a few bills for the round of drinks she'd just dropped off at their table. Chris groaned and took a long pull from his bottle.

"Yeah that's over," Diaz finally said, absently picking at the label on his beer.

"What?!" Dov asked sounding surprised. He knew he'd been busy lately and hadn't been able to hang out with Chris much, but this was an unexpected development. "I thought things were going good, what happened?"

Chris shrugged disheartedly.

"She said she wanted more," Chris replied. "It's like she wanted a serious commitment already even though we've only been dating a short time. I thought we were just having fun, but she wanted to define things….said she wanted more and this wasn't enough…"

"Damn, that sucks," Dov said shaking his head.

"I think I'm cursed, destined to be alone," Diaz said with a heavy sigh.

"Don't worry man, it will happen for you," Dov said patting his friend on the shoulder before taking a pull from his bottle.

"I hope so. As bad as this is going to sound, I see people on the street and can't help but wonder how they have someone and I don't," Chris said glancing around the bar, finding his example. "Take that guy for instance he's bald, middle-aged and look at the smoking hot blonde on his arm…"

"Chris he shaves his head, he didn't lose his hair," Dov remarked looking at Chris' exhibit.

"Exactly, he's voluntarily bald, that's worse," Diaz said slurring his words slightly. "I'm just saying it sucks being the only one in the group flying solo. Traci has Steve, Andy and Swarek, you and Chloe…"

"Nick is single," Epstein pointed out.

"Nick's not really a part of our group so he doesn't count," Chris dismissed before adding. "But he's an example of someone who's pulled in some beautiful women."

"No, no, no…don't start comparing team photos, I'm not drunk enough for that," Dov said waving his hand absently in the air, trying to derail this conversation before it got too far along. "Besides wouldn't that be awkward considering you've both dated Gail?"

Chris snapped his fingers and pointed at him.

"That's another prime example right there," Chris said animatedly pointing at Dov's chest. "Look who Gail landed. Holly is gorgeous and smart and….gorgeous."

"Yeah you said that already," Dov deadpanned.

"I mean how was she not locked down or married? Hmm?"

Epstein shrugged haphazardly.

"And don't get me wrong, I love Gail to death, but how the hell did she pull that off? Huh? The same Gail Peck who forced me to sleep on the couch in my own apartment for fostering a puppy for a couple of days. Her prickly cactus like exterior, the mood swings… how did Holly see passed that? I'm shocked she didn't hightail it outta there," Diaz said finishing off his beer and turned to flag down the waitress for another only to find Gail standing behind him with shots in hand.

Diaz's mouth instantly dropped open as their eyes locked and he saw a flicker of hurt flash behind Peck's blues, but just as fast as it appeared it was gone and the blonde was setting the shots down on the table.

"You know, I've asked that question myself," Gail replied, pushing a shot in front of Dov before picking up her own. She saluted them and downed the tequila. "I've made bad decisions and tried to push her away, but she stayed and we worked through it…that woman has the patience of a saint, I gotta give her that."

"Gail, I didn't mean to…" Chris began, feeling awful about talking behind her back. He was bracing himself for her wrath and rightfully so, he knew he'd deserve it, but to both his and Dov's amazement it never came.

"It's ok, I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with. I'm difficult and irrational at times," Gail replied with a shrug, pulling on her beanie before patting his forearm. "But, I'm fortunate to have qualities she loves that you don't have…"

Chris stared at her for a moment waiting for her to go on.

"Which is…" he prompted.

"Perky breasts and long fingers," Gail smirked wagging her brows suggestively before giving them a small wave and grin. "Goodnight boys," she said over sweetly before turning and heading out.

"I hate her so much right now…" Epstein said still looking as shocked as Chris felt. "Now I'm going to have that image stuck in my head all night…"

"I need more alcohol…lots and lots of alcohol," Chris commented looking for the waitress as Dov downed the rest of his beer.

"Whatever you order, make it two," Epstein said, sliding the empty bottle aside.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Despite the warmer temperature of the day traffic was relatively light on Gail's way home from the Penny, a vast majority of citizens opting to travel by foot or bike. This had become the new norm lately as larger clusters of people were out and about courtesy of the Pokemon Go app. While it was nice to see more foot traffic, the game had certainly increased their number of calls at work since players thought they could roam wherever they liked in the city including funeral homes and restricted hospital areas. Gail chuckled at herself, realizing how different her thinking had been lately.

Normally she would've spent the 10 minute trek home picking apart and overanalyzing Chris' comment, the nasty little voices of self-doubt inevitably growing louder with each passing moment, but not tonight, tonight Peck felt surprisingly relaxed. Maybe it was the tequila or maybe she'd subconsciously decided to not let people's views of her bother her anymore, either way she was thankful for the solace. Instead of overthinking and getting herself worked up into a giant ball of stress and anxiety she was calm and looking forward to spending some time with her girl tonight.

Gail smiled as she pulled into the empty spot beside Holly's SUV, happy to see the doctor's day had already wrapped up. After gathering her bag from the back she made her way into the apartment, slightly surprised to find the space dark except for the warm glow of the lit fireplace and the pale flicker of the muted television. As her eyes adjusted she made her way further into the living room, finding Holly curled up on her side, asleep on the couch. On the coffee table was a half empty glass of bourbon and the brunette's glasses.

 _'Must've been a rough day,'_ Gail thought as she knelt down in front of the couch and gently pushed a few stray strands of hair from her girlfriend's cheek, the contact causing Holly to stir slightly.

Gail couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she took in Holly's sleeping form, she swore she could've sat there for hours watching this beautiful creature rest. Chris was right, she was lucky Holly hadn't been tied down already and the concept seemed so incredible to her. How had someone passed up on the opportunity to know such a beautiful soul? It was beyond her, but one thing was for sure, Gail wasn't going to make the mistake they had.

"Hol…" she said gently, caressing the doc's cheek and smiled once again as Holly turned into her embrace, a gentle hum rising from her throat before her brown eyes fluttered up. This was Gail's favorite part, watching as Holly's expression slipped from slightly disoriented to the warm recognition of Gail's presence.

"Hey," Holly said, her voice husky with sleep as a tired grin spread across her face. "I didn't hear you come in. What time is it?"

"A little after 10, I've only been home a few minutes," Peck explained as the brunette stretched and sat up on the couch to make room for her girlfriend to have a seat beside her. Once Gail was settled, Holly leaned into the blonde's side, resting her head on her shoulder.

"How was your day, hun?" Holly asked as Gail kissed the top of her head before replying.

"Not too bad; wrote some tickets, chased a few people…the norm," Peck said with a nonchalant shrug and a chuckle. "I'm thinking it was better than yours though judging from the glass of booze over here."

Holly instantly froze, having forgotten all about the cause of the drink's presence until now. She had been battling with herself all day over whether to tell Gail about her meeting down at the Municipal building. Rachel had suggested she keep that little tidbit of information to herself, but the thought of keeping something from Gail didn't sit well with her. She prided herself on being open and honest especially when it came to their relationship and didn't like the thought of keeping secrets now. Holly had gone over multiple scenarios in her head, but ultimately decided she needed to tell her girlfriend about her chat with Elaine.

"Gail, I need to tell you something," Holly said, realizing that during her surmising throughout the day she had failed to figure out how exactly she was going to explain the whole ordeal. Beneath her she felt Gail tense, the muscle in her shoulder becoming a hardened rock.

"What's going on?" Gail asked, her voice suddenly sounding so small as a cold pit formed in her stomach. She couldn't recall a single conversation or moment in her life that started with 'I need to tell you something' that didn't end horribly and her mind began to race in a hundred different directions all at once.

 _'Now or never Stewart,'_ the doc thought to herself and took a deep breath.

"I went to see your mother today," Holly finally said and found herself cringing as she waited with baited breath for Gail's reaction. When she didn't receive one she continued. "I wanted to talk to her about you…about us actually…" she continued, shifting her body to meet Gail's gaze expecting to find anger, but ultimately found a mixture of confusion and what looked like concern reflecting back at her.

"Why?" Gail asked, fighting not to chuckle as she felt a strong wave of relief wash over her.

"I was hoping we could have a reasonable conversation and maybe reach some kind of middle ground where you didn't have to lose her, but unfortunately she wasn't very receptive," Holly replied, deciding to spare Gail the more unpleasant details of their talk.

"Yeah reasonable has never been my mother's strong suit, it's always been her way or the highway," Gail now chuckled, the underlying sadness coming through and Holly reached out to take Peck's hand in her own.

"Well I thought maybe if she saw how much we meant to each other she'd reconsider," the doc said. "I'm sorry, I should've checked with you first."

"Hol, it's ok, I get it. You were trying to help," Gail replied and took a deep breath. "But please let it be, ok? She made her choice and honestly if this is truly how she feels about me being in love with you then I don't want her around us, she'll only cause unnecessary drama and I'm not willing to risk what we have."

Holly wasn't sure why, but she was completely taken aback by the sincerity in Gail's words and couldn't halt the rush of tears she felt sting her eyes. She quickly leaned forward and cupped Gail's cheeks in the palm of her hands to capture her lips in a tender yet urgent kiss, the simple act conveying all the emotions coursing through her body. And based on Gail's response she felt it too, wrapping her hands around Holly's waist and pulling her girlfriend flush to her as she laid back against the armrest of the couch.

There they laid chest to chest entwined in each other's arms, making out like two hot and bothered teenagers. Things probably would've escalated quite quickly had it not been for Gail's roaringly loud stomach growl that caused Holly to burst into laughter, effectively breaking the kiss.

"Hungry are we?" Holly asked, still chuckling as Gail looked on in disappointment at the loss of contact when the brunette sat up, still straddling Peck's hips .

"No I'm good," Gail replied a little too quickly, running her hands up and down the doc's thighs on either side of her.

"You're such a shitty liar," Holly commented with her lop-sided smirk, leaning down to give Gail a chaise kiss only to have her try to bait her back into the exchange.

"Ugh uh, you my dear have to eat dinner before you can have dessert," Holly replied and leapt from the couch and headed to the kitchen before the blonde could try another tactic.

Gail exhaled dramatically and dropped back flat on the couch.

"You're lucky I love you, nerd," she said with a pout and caught a split second glimpse of Holly's smug smile before she disappeared into the kitchen.


	13. Chapter 13- Covert Op

**A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you guys for your continued support of this story. Your feedback and reviews have been such a pleasure to read and really helps to reinforce that my vision is coming across as intended.** **With that in mind please keep the feedback coming, it really is helpful. :)**

 **Happy reading! :)**

Chapter 13- Covert Op

It had been a long, relatively boring shift and unfortunately riding with Dov hadn't helped. As usual he had yammered on about Chloe and Gail had been forced to act like she was listening when in reality she'd spent half her morning deep in thought and the other half glued to her phone looking at last minute airline fares once she'd made her decision. She knew what she wanted without a doubt and couldn't think of a possible reason- even a typical irrational one - to put it off any longer.

After securing the spur of the moment flight she put her plan into action and the first step involved telling Holly she would be gone for the weekend to take care of a few things. While she didn't like being vague or slightly evasive, Gail had been prepared to try to convince Holly this would give her some time to finish the article she'd been researching without being a distraction only to find the argument wasn't needed. To Peck's surprise Holly hadn't pushed her on the issue after Gail assured her everything was fine and she'd promised to get a hold of her once she got settled in later that evening.

The next part of the plan was pivotal and could be her undoing, it involved Nick Collins.

Gail strode purposefully into the men's locker room, not bothering to knock and was immediately greeted with various grumbles and protests as she made her way over to her target.

"So remember how you emotionally cheated on me undercover with one of my good friends and then physically completed the escapade a month later?" Gail asked abruptly, leaning casually on the locker beside Nick's as he pulled a t-shirt over his head. He popped his head out of the collar completely caught off guard by Peck's sudden presence and odd question.

"Hi to you too," he said sounding confused. "You realize this is the men's locker room, right?"

"Yeah, yeah they have nothing I'm interested in," she dismissed with a wave of her hand. "So you remember all that right? The lying, the cheating? Well I need a favor," Gail said expectantly.

"Your way of preparing to ask a favor is to lay guilt on me first?" he asked with a chuckle, completely unfazed by her tactics. "Usually flattery is the best segway...or beer."

"Guilt works for me. So to make amends for your douche-baggary, I need you to work for me this weekend," Peck said innocently like she'd just asked to borrow a cup of sugar.

"This weekend? As in tomorrow and the day after?" Collins asked and Gail nodded yes. "Seriously? You wait until the end of my last shift to ask me to switch…what's going on that's so important?"

"I can't tell you that."

"No?"

"Not yet anyways," Gail replied.

Nick stood there in quiet amazement, they had both certainly made mistakes throughout their long history together , but he still loved Gail like a sister. And knowing her as he did he knew she wouldn't ask for help unless she really needed it. He'd been looking forward to catching up on some much needed sleep over the next couple days and relaxing, but other than that didn't have any concrete plans. With a heavy sigh he dropped his head back in defeat.

"Ok I'll do it," Nick agreed and Gail broke out into an ear to ear grin. "Tell Sarge I'll sign off on it in the morning."

Gail let out a loud squeal before jumping up and wrapping him in a huge hug catching Nick completely off guard since Peck normally shied away from contact unless you were a certain brunette pathologist.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said still grinning.

"You're welcome," Collins replied. "You're sure you can't tell me what this is all about?"

"I cannot," she answered and headed towards the door in search of her final target.

It didn't take Gail long to find Oliver hunched over his desk reading. Peck peered through the glass before gently knocking on the door.

"Oliver you got a sec?" she asked, poking her head in.

"Always darlin', come in and have a seat," he said with a smile, flipping the paper onto the desk like it was a playing card.

"Anything good?" Gail asked nodding towards the report.

"Nah just a bogus complaint, it is slightly entertaining to read though," he chuckled. "It's like everyone blames us for them getting in trouble, well how about if you don't break the law we don't have a reason to arrest you…seems like an easy concept, but you know how it goes. Anyways, what can I do for you Pal?"

"I need to swap shifts with Nick."

"Ok, when?" he asked, swiveling around to open the filing cabinet of forms.

"This weekend," she mumbled lowly.

"This weekend. As in tomorrow?" Oliver asked over his shoulder.

 _'Why is everyone struggling with the concept of this weekend is?'_ she thought, feeling slightly amused.

"Yeah," Gail replied, drawing out the word before adding quickly, "I know we're supposed to give you 48 hours' notice, but I just asked him and found a cheap flight that leaves in a couple hours."

"Where are you jetting off to?" Shaw asked, turning back around to face her.

"I can't tell you," she said, praying this wasn't going to be the deal breaker.

"You can't tell me…you realize I'm your Staff Sargent, the one you just asked for time off from, right?" Ollie asked, placing the request off form in front of her, his curiosity completely peaked by this last minute mystery trip.

"I know, but I can't tell you. Believe me, you will know soon enough, I promise," Gail said, her eyes pleading with him.

"Ok, well where's Collins? I need him to sign off," Oliver asked, looking past her through the window out into the bullpen.

"He said he'd do it first thing in the morning," Gail replied hesitantly, knowing she was already pressing her luck.

"My god you guys are worse than my kids when it comes to following rules," he said under his breath as he took the form back. "Go on, get outta here."

"Thank you Ollie," Peck gleamed, giving him a hug.

"Yeah, yeah. Have a safe trip wherever you're going," Shaw said. "Bring me back something good."

Meanwhile out in the bullpen the day shift officers were wrapping up their reports.

"Where'd you guys end up going?" Chris asked, plopping down in his desk chair, eager to head out for drinks.

"Burger Barn on 5th, it was so good, but I'm uncomfortably full," Dov replied with a fond smile before shifting in his seat.

"I thought you were going for pizza?"

"We were, but Gail wanted a milkshake. We're going for slices tomorrow though if you want to meet up with us," Epstein answered as Gail set her bag down on her desk chair. "Right blonde?"

"Sure, pizza tomorrow…" Peck said as she rifled through her drawer. "I'm sure Nick will take you, it could be a cozy little man date."

"I thought I was riding with you tomorrow…" Dov said with a confused look.

"You were until about 15 minutes ago, he switched with me so I can go away for a few days," she replied, moving on to the next drawer.

"Spur of the moment romantic weekend?" Diaz asked.

"I wish…Holly's on-call all weekend so she'll be home," Gail said stuffing an envelope in her bag and shoving the drawer shut. "Speaking of, I need you two losers to do me a favor."

"How can we possibly say no when you constantly shower us with compliments?" Dov asked rhetorically, not looking up from his report.

"Shut the mouth and open the ears," the blonde said rolling her eyes. "I need you guys to keep Holly busy while I'm gone so she doesn't miss me so much."

Chris chuckled and dipped his head; he was really starting to enjoy this lighter side of Gail.

"Because she won't survive without you…" Epstein commented, shaking his head. Gail leaned over and flicked him in the ear. "Oww!"

"You know what I meant, you jerk. Invite her to the Penny if you go out or something," Gail replied before her face broke into a wide smile. "Or if you feel like padding your gamer score ask her to play video games, she has her own tag now."

Chris and Dov glanced at each other, trying to hide their glee at having a newbie to exploit.

"Just play nice, ok?" she asked, logging off her computer and throwing her bag over her shoulder. "Shit I gotta go or I'm going to miss my flight…"

"Where are you going anyway?" Chris asked leaning on his forearms.

"About 30,000 feet up," Peck called over her shoulder and strode down the hall, cutting through the lobby and out the front doors of the precinct.

One of the best perks of having seniority under your belt was being able to persuade the newer rookies into doing favors for you without asking too many questions, or in Peck's case no questions at all once they had seen the nametag on her shirt. Gail couldn't help the smirk on her face as she slipped into the patrol car at the curb waiting to take her to the airport. Once they had pulled away from the curb she slipped her phone from her pocket.

 **OFFICER BOMBSHELL** : Dumb and dumber will probably get a hold of you to play Call of Duty later. They were practically drooling when I told them you play.

 **DOCTOR DEAD** : Yeah Chris just texted me about playing tonight. He kept calling me 'newb'….

 **OFFICER BOMBSHELL** : That's my fault, I _may_ have downplayed your skill level…make me proud and teach them a lesson?

 **DOCTOR DEAD** : You got it. :D

 **DOCTOR DEAD** : Have a safe flight and call me when you get settled. I should have some good stories to tell you by then.

 **OFFICER BOMBSHELL** : Will do. Show them no mercy, Stewart.

 **DOCTOR DEAD** : lol

 **DOCTOR DEAD** : I love you, be safe.

 **OFFICER BOMBSHELL** : Always.

 **OFFICER BOMBSHELL** : And I love you more. ;)

Gail slipped her phone into her bag and watched the city slip passed her window thinking idly for a moment about how anxious she should be about this trip, but felt surprisingly calm knowing she was taking an important step towards her ultimate goal.

After this weekend, it was just a matter of time.


	14. Chapter 14- Sore Losers and a Ninja

**A/N: First off I must say that I adore you beautiful people, the reviews have been such a pleasure to read. As always I can't thank you enough for the feedback and continued support. Please keep them coming :)**

 **Alrighty guys, this chapter picks up the following evening of Gail's departure.**

 **Enjoy! :)**

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chapter 14- Sore Losers and a Ninja

"I still can't believe she owned you like that," Diaz said still sounding astounded.

"I should've known Gail was up to something when she encouraged us to play against Holly last night," Dov replied making a face before taking a sip from his bottle. Holly hadn't been the easy target Gail had made her out to be; in fact she ended up being the complete opposite.

The good doc had easily run the table in Call of Duty, managing to get more kills on both of them in 1-on-1 Free For All than anyone else in the room had. At one point Holly had sniped them both 5 times in a row from different vantage points throughout the map, something that had served to frustrate the two officers to no end. They'd even called a mutual truce with each other and teamed up to try to hunt her down only to trip a landmine she'd set at the base of one of her perches killing them both simultaneously and giving Holly the time she'd needed to escape and set up shop elsewhere before they could respawn.

"You fell right into her trap, man," Chris said, lightly tapping his friend on the arm.

"Um you mean _we_ fell into her trap," Epstein replied turning to face his roommate. "If I recall correctly, she kicked your ass right along with mine. How many kills did she have against you in the first game?"

"12," Chris said lowly, trying to play it off.

"Exactly," Dov retorted, taking another sip from this bottle as Chloe stepped up to the table setting her stuff down.

"Hi guys!" she said cheerfully,

"Hey," they both said in unison, completely monotone.

"Are you two _still_ pouting?" Chloe asked with a pout of her own as she looked between Diaz and Epstein. She'd had to listen to both of them shouting at the TV last night, complaining for hours about how the game was rigged and unfair. It wasn't until Dov went to get more beer and Chris hit the restroom that Chloe grabbed one of the controllers and did some quick recon the boys had clearly failed to do. She quickly checked out Holly's gamer tag and saw all the achievements she'd unlocked playing the game and realized the boys had been so eager to show her up that they'd set themselves up for heartache. "It's a game, get over it already."

"It's not just a game, it's about our pride and our manhood," Dov replied, sounding like a petulant child and Chris nodded his head in agreement.

"Seriously Dov..." she sighed, rolling her eyes.

"We're cops, Chloe. We got beat in a first person shooter by a girl..." Dov trailed off, waiting for it to sink in for his girlfriend who just looked at him like he was crazy, "…a girl who plays with dead things."

"And doesn't carry a gun for a living," Chris chimed in.

Chloe sighed and stepped in closer to the table, grabbing Chris and Dov by the ears, making them both squirm and complain.

"You two need to cut it out," Chloe started slowly, looking from one to the other. "Holly beat you at your own game fair and square. You've licked your wounds now get over it, ok?" she asked, letting them go and they both instantly rubbed their ears.

"She must've had kids in another life..." Diaz said with a grimace and Dov nodded. "Way to get me in trouble when I wasn't even complaining about it."

"You were too," Epstein said in a hushed tone even though Chloe could hear them both bickering. She took a long pull from her pint and stepped in front of Dov, wrapping her hand around the back of his neck and pulling him in for a searing kiss to shut him up.

"Better?" she asked when she pulled back and his eyes opened looking a bit shell-shocked a moment later and he silently nodded his head, still in a daze. Chloe leaned in like she was going to continue where she'd left off, but stopped short of his lips. "Let it go," she winked and stepped back to sit on the stool beside his.

"You're so cruel," Epstein chuckled giving her the playful eye as he turned back to them.

They fell into their usual easy conversation, the schooling all but forgotten. They talked shop like always and were about to start a game of trivia when Holly walked over to the table.

"This seat taken?" the doc asked tentatively.

"Hey, it's all yours," Chris said, giving her a one armed hug. Holly smiled, setting her drink down and sliding onto the stool.

"Perfect timing, we need a fourth person," Dov said with a smile, setting the trivia cards on the table. Holly looked from Epstein to the cards, giving him an apologetic smile.

"I can't stay that long, it's been a hell of a day and Gail is suppose to call in a little bit," the doc said, glancing at her watch as Chloe grinned at her, making a cutesy noise.

"Today was kind of a strange day, wasn't it?" Chris asked rhetorically, shaking his head slightly. "If we were that swamped I can't imagine what your day was like," he continued nodding at the doc.

"It was jam packed to say the least…" Holly trailed off, taking a sip from her beer. She'd had two bodies waiting for her in cold storage from an accident the night before when she arrived that morning. After performing both autopsies she busied herself with running the toxicology screen and analyzing the crime scene measurements before wrapping her findings up in a neat little bow for Traci. To top it all off she also had a rapidly approaching deadline for an article she'd been working on for weeks now looming overhead.

"I wish I could say my day was busy," Chloe pouted, resting her chin in her palm. "If I don't get off desk duty and back on the streets soon I'm going to scream."

"You know Oliver's just looking out for you, right?" Dov asked, putting his arm around his girlfriend and giving her a squeeze.

"I know, but it's been 2 months, Dov. How much longer am I going to be babied? I sprained my ankle 8 weeks ago and have been cleared for full, active duty for 3 weeks now…" Price said.

"Not that anyone's counting…" Diaz said under his breath earning a smirk from his friends as Chloe just continued her rant as if he hadn't spoken.

"The brace has been gone for a month now and yet I'm still stuck in booking with the drunks," Price rattled on.

"Have you talked to Oliver?" Holly inquired.

"Yeah and every time I do he starts talking like Yoda and tells me to be patient," Chloe answered, sighing heavily. "It's frustrating because I see Duncan fumbling around and I can't help, but think that I'm needed out there now more than ever. "

"Wait I'm sorry, who's Duncan?" Holly asked, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"Duncan Moore, the rookie Andy's been training," Chris piped in, but his answer did nothing to clear up her confusion.

"Gail said Andy was training someone named Gerald," the doc replied making a face as the table chuckled.

"Yeah they're one in the same," Diaz said. "At first I thought she was just calling him Gerald to give him a hard time, but she honestly thought that was his name. You know how Gail is though, he'll be Gerald to her from here on out."

"Ah," Holly nodded with a grin and taking a sip from her glass; that was her Gail all right. She glanced at her watch and rose from her seat. "I'd better get going; she's going to be calling soon."

"Where'd she go anyway?" Diaz asked as the brunette slipped her coat on over her shoulders.

"I'm not sure actually," Holly replied nonchalantly. "She just said she had to take care of a few things and would be gone a couple days," she said as she gestured for the waitress to bring her the tab. "No big deal," she shrugged.

"No big deal?" Dov asked, feeling a mix of shock and awe.

"Nope," Holly replied easily and Dov shook his head in disbelief. "Why?"

"I just know if I mysteriously disappeared for the weekend, someone," Epstein said, holding his hand up and pointing towards Chloe, knowing full well she could see him, "would be a bit suspicious about it." Chloe's jaw dropped and she leaned over and punched him in the arm. "Oww again!"

"I'm so not the jealous type," Chloe defended.

"I'm not worried about it," Holly shrugged again. "If Gail wants to tell me about it she will."

"You have the patience of a saint, you know that right?" Chris asked, taking a sip of his beer and Holly laughed at the comment.

"Well that notwithstanding, I know when to push and when to give her space. A little patience isn't much to ask," Holly shrugged again lightly before adding with a grin, "Besides, she's worth it."

"Aww," Chloe said, a huge smile spreading across her face after the silence stretched for a minute and the guys chuckled. "Gail's lucky to have you."

Holly thought for a moment before lifting her glass, but stopping just short of her lips.

"I think it's the other way around," she said thoughtfully and finished her beer as the waitress set the bill down in front of her. Dov quickly reached across the table as Holly began to pull money from her pocket and picked up the tab.

"I got this," he said and she tilted her head, giving him a questioning look causing him to shrug. "I'm paying my debt; you beat me fair and square in the Free For All."

Holly smiled shyly and reached out to take the bill from him.

"We can forget about that, Gail lulled you into a false sense of security," the doc replied, trying to get him to hand it over, but he moved just out of reach.

"Nope, not happening Stewart," Dov shook his head and turned to their waitress on the way by. "Can you add that to my tab please?"

"Thanks Dov, you really didn't have to do that though," Holly said, patting him on the forearm.

"No problem, just give me a rematch sometime," he replied, mock squinting as if he were going to stare her down.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Chris asked skeptically. "You were just whining that…"

"God take me now…Holly you'd better go or you'll never make it home in time," Chloe rolled her eyes as the two boys started bantering back and forth about who got schooled worse and Holly chuckled, feeling bad that the chipper young officer was going to have to endure their bickering.

"Sorry," Holly mouthed at Chloe and gave her a sympathetic look before waving in the boy's general direction and heading to the door.

The drive home went by relatively quickly with traffic being light for a Saturday night so Holly made it in no time. After making the short trek into the house, she was just hanging up her coat when her phone buzzed in her pocket.

OFFICER BOMBSHELL: You still up, nerd?

Holly smiled at the text and quickly replied.

DOCTOR DEATH: Yep, just got home from the Penny. Chris and Dov aren't too happy with you. Lol

The brunette climbed the steps to the bedroom and tossed her phone on the bed, quickly stripping off her clothes and heading into the bathroom to get ready for bed. When she came back out a few minutes later in one of Gail's oversized academy shirts, her phone buzzed on the mattress and she saw she had two unread messages.

OFFICER BOMBSHELL: Serves them right, who do they think taught you to play?!

OFFICER BOMBSHELL: If you're too tired to talk, I can call you tomorrow.

Holly climbed in bed and quickly replied back.

DOCTOR DEATH: Sorry I was getting ready for bed. And don't worry, I'm wide awake… ;)

Feeling smug with her flirty reply, Holly shimmied further down into the sheets waiting for Gail's call, already having a pretty good idea where their conversation would be heading.

Suddenly the bedroom door swung inward, catching Holly by surprise as she was about to switch off the lamp on the nightstand.

"Good because I've missed you," Gail said standing in the door frame with her black beanie on her head. She dropped her bag onto the floor, kicking the door shut as she made her way towards the bed. Holly's mouth fell open in shock before giving way to a face-splitting smile as Gail sat down on the edge of the mattress and leaned in to give her a kiss that quickly turned heated.

Though they'd only been apart for a little more than 24 hours it felt like a lifetime. Gail leaned forward, using her weight to gently push Holly back into the pillows until she was lying prone with the blonde leaning over the top of her. Holly's hands snaked around Gail's neck, her fingers running through the short hairs there as if they weren't sure the blonde was actually here with her. The doc smiled against Peck's lips and pulled back slightly.

"I can't believe you're here," Holly smiled, cupping the blonde's face in her hands.

"It didn't take as long as I thought it would so I caught a redeye back," the blonde said, closing her eyes for a moment as if drawing strength by being in the brunette's presence. "I really wanted to get back and see you…I missed you," she continued, leaning in slightly to rest her forehead against Holly's.

"I missed you too," Holly said, lifting her chin to place a short, tender kiss to Gail's lips. When they parted, Gail sat up, Holly following her and staying close. "I didn't even hear you come in, you little ninja….You must be exhausted…"

Gail held her gaze for a moment before a slow smile stretched across her beautiful pale face.

"Not anymore," Peck replied, her voice dropping an octave causing Holly's mouth to instantly go dry and a warm tingle to run down her spine. The brunette leaned forward and removed the beanie from her girlfriend's head and chuckled at the disarray of platinum locks left in its absence.

"You're so sexy I can't stand it," Holly said and pulled Gail back into her, their lips locking once again as her hands came up to the lapels of the blonde's leather jacket and pushed it from her shoulders and down her arms, satisfied when she heard the heavy thump of it hitting the floor. The doc's hands quickly slid down the front of Gail's grey hoodie and pulled it over her head. "Was that my hoodie?" Holly asked after tossing the sweatshirt aside leaving Gail in just a snug, black tank top.

"Yeah," Gail replied, placing a kiss to Holly's jaw line. "I took it with me, it smelled like you," she explained as she peppered the brunette's neck with kisses, breathing in the scent of her shampoo; the scent was almost intoxicating and completely Holly.

"That's stealing…" the doc said playfully, running her hands down the blonde's back and up again in long sweeping motions.

"I like to think of it as long term borrowing," Gail said, her eyes twinkling as she felt Holly smile under her lips. Her fingers gently tugged on Holly's t-shirt. "I believe this belongs to me…"

Holly chuckled before suddenly turning shy.

"It smells like you and helps me sleep when you're not here," the doc explained with a smile.

"I'm here now…" Gail said with a smug grin.

"Then I guess I don't need it," Holly replied, pulling the shirt up and over her head tantalizingly slow, leaving her in only a pair of black boy shorts.

"Holy shit…" Peck breathed as her eyes dropped from Holly's and swept across her exposed body; the sight of Holly naked was something Gail knew she'd never tire of. "Well you can still arrest me if you'd like," Peck said giggling at their similar trains of thought.

"Isn't that your job?" Holly asked, playfully quirking a brow. "You're definitely wearing too many clothes for what I have in mind…lose'em."

"Isn't that _your_ job?" Gail asked mockingly as she rose from the bed and toed out of her boots, but before she could get any further Holly sat forward and grasped her belt buckle, pulling her back towards the bed. Without breaking eye contact she unbuckled Peck's belt agonizingly slow, making sure her finger tips lightly brushed across the smooth skin of Gail's abdomen before unzipping her jeans and pushing them down the officer's hips. Satisfied with the goosebumps that were raised on Gail's skin like brail, Holly leaned back on her elbows as her girlfriend rid herself of her pants.

"It sounded familiar," Holly replied with a grin before pulling back the covers invitingly for Gail to join her.

Peck climbed in and wasted no time straddling Holly's hips before pulling the blankets back around them.

"You're so beautiful," Gail commented in wonder as she lightly ran her fingers down the valley of Holly's chest to her lower stomach and grinned with satisfaction when the brunette's breath hitched below her. Spurring her into action, Gail's lips hungrily sought out Holly's whose hand blindly grasped for the lamp, plunging the room into darkness as they melted into each other's embrace.


	15. Chapter 15- Opportunity Knocks, Twice

**A/N: Hello again friends, thank you again for your continued support, I really am blown away by your responses! I love hearing from you guys so please keep the feedback coming.**

 **The next three chapters are in the final editing phase so be on the lookout for more updates soon.**

 **Ok guys, here we go. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 15- Opportunity Knocks, Twice

For Gail, Monday morning had come around way too quickly; even with having the weekend off she felt exhausted. The red eye flight back to Toronto Saturday night had really knocked her back despite the rush of arousal and lengthy physical activities Holly had provided upon her return. Though the pair had been in bed they hadn't actually gone to sleep until the wee hours of the morning; luckily for Gail, Holly had let her sleep in Sunday while she worked on her article, but the effects of the cross country flight and time changes had done a number on her internal clock.

Coffee would be the name of the day for the officer.

After securing her cup Gail had been in mid sip when a new flyer on the bulletin board caught her eye. Satisfied with the cream to sugar ratio, Peck snapped a plastic lid onto her cup and made her way closer to the board to get a better look at the paper. It was a bulletin about a new career opportunity coming to 15 division and the thought of it peaked Gail's interest.

"Gail, are you coming?" Chloe bubbly asked, poking her head into the breakroom and thumbing over her shoulder.

"Yeah I'll be right there," Peck replied, relieved when Price didn't linger while she snatched a copy of the flyer and tucked it away in her cargo pocket.

The parade room had filled in quickly, but luckily for her the boys had done their job and saved her a seat with them in the middle of the room.

"I thought you were going to get stuck on desk duty…cutting it a bit close," Chris said as Gail slid into the empty seat a split second before Oliver entered from the opposite door to start the morning rundown. She'd just made it in time.

"Good morning everybody, let's get this party started shall we?" the Staff Sargent begun, stepping in front of the podium at the head of the room. "Last night was a busy one, we had a shooting over on Jefferson around 4 a.m. We're not sure if this was a hit or just a random shooting, but Guns and Gangs is looking into it. They'd like us to be on the lookout for Louis Wittingham aka Big Louie who is a person of interest, his mugshot and rap sheet are on the desk in front of you. If you see Big Louie don't try to be a hero and grab him yourself, he's had a gun on his every time he's been picked up so call for backup before approaching him. Any questions?"

Ollie looked up at the silent room, receiving only head nods.

"Good, moving on…second item, we've been receiving reports of clowns," he began only to be met by a chorus of groans from the officers. "I know, I know, I know…I don't like them either…but we've been receiving reports of clowns in Regis park once again after dark. The Inspector would like us to step up our presence in the area to try to deter them from hanging around. Anyone found in the park after 8, clown or not is to be ticketed. Is that clear?"

A collective affirmative filled the small room.

"Beautiful. Last item of business, I need a volunteer to run some evidence down to the lab for analysis," he said, his eyes naturally gravitating towards Gail's direction. To Ollie's amazement , an eager rookie a couple rows behind her raised his hand, nearly bouncing out of his chair like an elementary school child volunteering to write on the chalk board in front of the class.

Catching the Staff Sargent's surprised expression, Gail turned in her seat along with Dov and Chris to follow his gaze. Feeling the full weight of Gail's glare, the overly enthusiastic rookie slowly lowered his hand, pulling it in close to him as if he were afraid of losing the appendage all together.

"Ok now that that's taken care of, get out there. Serve, protect, and come home safe tonight guys," Ollie concluded, lightly slapping the podium as his platoon rose to their feet and started to disperse.

"What needs to go to the lab?" Gail asked, weaving through the sea of blue towards the front of the room. Shaw leaned down behind the podium and produced a large brown paper bag.

"Eric Rhodes' clothing from booking."

"The guy in the drunk tank?"

"They are one in the same pal, turns out our friend in there may have nearly beaten a man to death in his little drunken stupor last night," Oliver replied. "We need Holly to work her magic."

"Got it," Gail replied, scooping up the bag and heading out through the Sally Port entrance to meet Chris at the squad car.

"Ready to go?" Diaz asked, finishing his walk around the car and running through the checklist.

"To the lab Bat Boy," she said playfully, setting the bag on the floor between her feet with a chuckle.

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"Hey," Gail said, knocking on the door frame and striding into the lab with an extra cup of coffee in hand.

"Hey you," Holly grinned even before looking up from the microscope she'd been peering into.

"These are for you," Peck said, setting the cup down next to the doctor's note pad and placing a quick kiss to Holly's lips. "And this," she wagged the paper bag, "is for you to play with. Oliver thinks a guy we have in the drunk tank may have beaten the crap out of someone in a bar fight."

"Was that the guy who was taken to St. John's earlier this morning? Extensive facial trauma?" Holly asked, the situation sounding familiar.

"Yep."

"I think one of the night shift techs went to the hospital to process him last night so I should be able to compare the blood samples pretty easily," Holly replied with confidence.

"And this is why we love you," Gail grinned, looking around the lab for a moment. "Are you super busy? Do you have a minute?"

"A minute for you? Always," the brunette answered tilting her cup towards the officer in a silent 'thank you' before humming lowly as the warm liquid slid down her throat. "What can I do for you, officer?"

"I've been thinking…" Gail began.

"That could be dangerous," the doc commented under her breath, earning a frosty Peck glare that never seemed to hold as much weight with her as it did for others. "Sorry, please continue."

"There was this posting on the bulletin board at the station," Gail continued, unfolding a sheet of paper from her cargo pocket and setting it on the table in front of her. "I'm thinking about possibly applying …"

Holly reached out and pulled the posting closer to get a better look.

"K-9 unit?" Holly asked with a smile as she glanced at the blonde who was gauging her reaction. Holly had decided long ago she would support Gail in whatever career path she chose and this was no exception. "I think you'd make a great handler."

"Yeah?" Peck asked with a smirk as she watched the brunette continue to skim the page. "We don't have to decide anything right now, I have time to apply so…"

Holly looked up, hearing the sudden insecurity in Gail's voice and felt a flash of anger toward everyone who helped cultivate the seed of self-doubt planted in her girlfriend's head.

"Let's talk about it tonight then, I think it's a great opportunity," Holly said, leaning over the table to grip the blonde by her belt and pull her closer.

"Yeah, but this would mean big changes…we'd have to get a house with a big yard and a dog…" Gail said, suddenly listing reasons why she thought she should pass this up, but the brunette silenced her before she could get any further in talking herself out of it.

"Ok, we've already been looking at houses and talking about getting a dog…" Holly pointed out.

"I know, but this is….this is big…" Gail trailed off not meeting her gaze until Holly reached up and cupped her chin.

"Hey," Holly said softly and Peck's blue eyes fixated on her dark browns. "If this is something you want then I think you should go for it. Think of all the good you could do helping to bring children back home to their families or getting drugs off the street so they can't harm them. I know this will mean changes, but I also know we can handle it, we'll make it work," Holly said, holding Gail's gaze. "Besides you'll get to ride with a partner you love who won't talk back or drink your coffee," she chuckled, lightening the mood.

"He'll just try to eat my doughnuts," Peck remarked with a scowl.

"Just think of him as a hairier version of Oliver," Holly laughed before continuing. "I'd have someone to go jogging with and we'd have more protection at the house at night, no offense officer…"

"None taken," the blonde shrugged, feeling more and more at ease as her girlfriend spoke.

"But the biggest reason you should go for it…" the doc continued, "is because you want it."

Gail nodded in agreement and was about to speak when Holly's face lit up, a thought occurring to her.

"And your mother won't have oversight of you," she said quickly, realizing the alignment.

"Holy shit, I didn't even think of that!" Gail exclaimed with excitement. The K-9 Division was an extension of the Emergency Services Unit, a unit her Superintendent mother currently had no control over.

"Think of all the exciting new things you'll get to be a part of. Tracking, drug detection…cadaver dog…" Holly tried to throw in under her breath to no avail as Gail tipped her head back and laughed heartedly.

"Not a chance, lunchbox," Gail managed to giggle out once she got her fit of laughter under control.

"It was worth a shot," Holly shrugged, her tone turning serious as she met Gail's gaze once again. "You'd be great at this and I'm behind you 100%, ok? No matter what you decide to do."

Gail nodded and blinked rapidly through the tears at Holly's sincere declaration. Never had she ever had anyone in her corner like this and truth be told, it felt good. She leaned in and wrapped Holly in a tight hug.

"Thank you," Peck whispered in the brunette's ear, planting a kiss to Holly's temple who drew small soothing circles on her lower back.

"So is there anything left to talk about tonight then?" Holly asked with a smirk, resting her chin on Peck's shoulder as she continued her patterns and felt the officer snort.

"Apparently just names and breeds," Gail chuckled, suddenly very excited.

"Mmm…" Holly hummed, pulling back to look at Gail at an arm's length. "That, my dear, is entirely all you. I trust you."

"Oh really? So you'd be fine with me bringing home a Chihuahua named Bruiser?" the blonde asked, quirking a brow and Holly chuckled.

"Sure, if your plan to stop people from running from you is to have them doubled over in laughter," Holly replied and received a pinch in the side for her comment.

"I'll see what the department's recommendations are and we'll go from there," Gail replied, swaying from side to side.

"Sounds good," the brunette nodded before Gail leaned in and kissed her chastely.

Gail exhaled heavily, feeling better about the opportunity having talked it through.

"Are we really going to do this?" Peck asked, both excited and nervous about the new endeavor. Holly smiled.

"That's entirely up to you babe. Like I said, I'm with you no matter what," Holly replied.

"Thank you," Gail said again, kissing her girl before resting her forehead against the doc's for a moment.

"That's what I'm here for," Holly replied with a smile and returned the kiss.

 _"15-05 we have reports of a male, late 30s flashing joggers in Patton Park, please respond, over,"_ Peck's radio buzzed to life on her shoulder causing them to pull back.

"At least it's not the clowns…I gotta go," Gail said regretfully as the let their hands drop from each other and Holly took her seat at the microscope once again.

 _"15-05 responding…Gail, ready to roll?"_ Chris' voice came through a moment later causing the blonde to roll her eyes.

"On my way, Diaz," she replied into the mic, looking sadly at Holly, clearly wanting to stay.

"Tell Oliver I'll get the DNA analysis to him shortly," Holly smiled. "Be safe."

"Always…see you later for date night," Peck replied and headed for the door.

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"Come on it was harmless fun," the flasher draped in an emergency thermo blanket said as Gail and Chris escorted him through the Sally Port entrance into booking.

"Tell that to the little girl you scared," Gail replied as they stopped in front of the intake desk and turned to Chloe. "Officer Price this is Ryan DeWitt, apparently he has a problem with keeping his clothes on in public places."

"Lovely," Chloe said disgustedly, heading for the closet, "I'll get him a jump suit."

"This is absurd," Ryan said with a shake of his head.

"You should've thought about that 20 minutes ago before you started exposing yourself," Chris replied as Chloe came back in and the pair led him over to the bench to swap out Diaz's cuffs for jail shackles.

"You guys got this?" Gail asked, glancing out window and they both nodded. "I'll be right back."

She walked out of booking and into the bullpen, happy to see Andy and Traci chatting at McNally's desk, the majority of the immediate area empty since most of the officers were still out on patrol.

"So you know how I never ask you guys for anything?" Gail asked, coming to a stop in front of them, not bothering to wait for a break in their conversation and receiving confused looks in return. "I'm asking for something…a lot of things actually," she continued as she slid a folded piece of notebook paper between them on the table. Andy looked scared and didn't move so Traci reached across and flipped it open, skimming quickly.

"What is this?" Traci asked, glancing up at the blonde who remained quiet and quirked an eyebrow, mentally willing her to get on the same page. When the detective's expression didn't change Peck rolled her eyes.

"I need you to set something up for me," Gail said and Andy leaned in closer to Traci, peering at the list, her expression mirroring that of her friend.

"Are you going camping?" McNally asked shaking her head, finding it hard to believe Gail was going to sleep in the wilderness willingly. She thought back to the weekend a few years ago when the rookies had tried to plan a camping trip as a last hurrah before Chris left for Timmons, the blonde had fought them every step of the way and tried to find any excuse to back out.

"No I'm not going camping, are you nuts?" Peck said sounding disgusted before her tone turned somewhat shy and vague. "I'm taking Holly to Point Beach tonight so I need you to set that up for me…"

Gail suddenly felt self-conscious as her friends stared at her. She was about to snatch the paper from Nash's hand when a slow smile stretched across the detective's face, the set-up dawning on her.

"Is this…what I think it is?" Nash asked, her eyes suddenly lighting up as Andy continued to look confused.

"What? What is it for?" McNally asked, glancing between the women whose eyes stayed locked and Gail nodded ever so slightly causing an ear to ear grin to spread across Traci's face.

"Keep it quiet Trace," Gail said quickly in a hushed tone, glancing over her shoulder to see if anyone had noticed. "You can tell this one, but I mean it McNally if I hear one word about it from anyone I'll kill you and have Holly get rid of your body."

Before either of them could reply Peck strode down the hall, leaving a stunned Andy and an excited Traci behind. They watched her go for a moment before Andy leaned in even closer to Nash, keeping her voice low.

"I still have no idea what's going on…" Andy said and Traci laughed, bumping her shoulder with her own playfully.

"I'll fill you in," Traci replied with a smile as she rose from the desk and headed to her office. Andy sat slack jawed and impossibly more confused, wondering if anyone was going to let her in on the situation anytime soon.


	16. Chapter 16- The Question

**A/N: Ok guys, we've reached a critical milestone for this little (or should I say long) adventure. I'm really hoping this comes across the same way I envisioned it in my head... lol**

 **As always I love hearing from you all so feedback is greatly, greatly appreciated- especially with this one.**

 **Alright guys, happy reading!**

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Chapter 16- The Question

"Where are we going?" Holly asked curiously as Gail turned off the two lane highway down a gravel road. Up ahead a patrol car was parked on the left-hand shoulder with its lights flashing. "Are you taking me to a crime scene for date night?" she asked, scrunching her face, but thinking idly that it wouldn't be too farfetched considering her girlfriend.

"Yeah Holly, I figured the first 10 hours at work today wasn't enough," the blonde replied sarcastically as she slowed a bit, giving a small wave to the patrol car as they rolled past.

"That was Andy," Holly said craning her neck to look behind them as the cruiser door opened and McNally stepped out to position a barricade across the road behind them before switching off her lights and driving away. Gail glanced in the mirror, a small smirk spreading across her face, finding it more and more difficult to hide her excitement and her nerves as they neared their destination.

Before they entered the last curve Gail stopped the car, reaching into the backseat before sitting forward again.

"I need you to put this on," Gail said holding up a piece of cloth causing Holly to look confused.

"You want me to wear your uniform tie?" the brunette asked cocking a brow as Peck huffed and grasped the doc's shoulders, turning her to face the window.

"No weirdo, we don't have a blindfold- which by the way I think we should invest in- so I have to improvise," Gail said, slipping her black neck tie gently across Holly's eyes and tying a snug, but comfortable knot behind her head to hold it in place. She leaned in close to Holly's ear and whispered lowly. "No peaking."

Holly instantly felt a warm shiver run down her spine at the sound of Gail's voice so close to her ear causing goose bumps to rise on her skin as she felt the car begin to move again. She didn't know if it was her body's reaction to being essentially blinded or her response to her girlfriend's tone, but Holly swore her other senses heightened. Suddenly she agreed with Gail wholeheartedly, they needed to buy a real blindfold.

It wasn't long before she felt the car come to a halt followed by the engine shutting off. She heard Gail move around in her seat and the driver's door open.

"I'm serious, no peaking," Peck instructed sternly, but Holly swore she heard a smile in her voice as the door shut and the car rocked slightly.

Gail peered in through the back window as she made her way around to the hatch to retrieve a few things. She was slightly surprised that the brunette never tried to sneak a peek at her surroundings and felt her heart swell with adoration. She knew if the roles were reversed she would've taken a look the first opportunity she was given. Shrugging to herself she slammed the trunk, feeling bad when she saw Holly jump at the sudden noise. She made her way around to the passenger side and opened the door, reaching in slowly to grasp Holly's hands and lead her from the car.

"Do you trust me?" Gail asked and Holly scoffed, her lips scrunching up.

"You have me blindfolded in the middle of nowhere, what do you think?" the doc asked folding her arms across her chest and Peck couldn't help but think how ridiculous Holly looked giving her sass at the moment, but kept that fun fact to herself.

"Fair enough," the blonde nodded and recaptured one the Holly's slender hands and slowly began to lead her across the parking lot, stopping once they reached the end of the pavement. The brunette could hear the distant sound of water as a gentle breeze swept passed them.

"We're going to stop for a sec so grab my shoulders," Gail instructed and Holly did as she was told, feeling Gail's hand gently slide down her leg before grasping her ankle and lifting her foot off the ground enough to remove her sandal. Her girlfriend did the same to her other foot before the blonde righted herself.

"Ok, we're going to take a big step forward, just be careful it's a little uneven," Gail said.

"You know this would be so much easier if I could, oh I don't know, see…" Holly said playfully as Gail took her hand once again.

"Patience babe," the blonde said, placing a quick kiss to her cheek before shaking their joined hands. "Ready?"

Holly nodded and they took a large stride up over the curb and into cool sand, the familiar feel causing her to smile; she loved the beach. They walked slowly hand in hand for a short while until she felt Gail give her hand a squeeze and stop beside her.

"Are you ready?" Peck's voice floated from behind her as Gail's hands went to work on untying the knot holding her tie in place. Holly nodded her head, trying to play it cool when inside she was dying to see what Gail had in store for them. She couldn't help the small gasp that escaped her lips as the makeshift blindfold slipped from its place and the scene before her literally took her breath away.

They were in fact at the beach.

They had come to a stop about 10 yards from the water's edge. There was a massive tree trunk laying on its side in front of them with a large blanket spread out across the ground. Two short tiki torches were stuck in the sand at both ends of the felled tree and a mellow burning bonfire crackled at the foot of the blanket between them and the gently lapping waves.

"Oh my god," Holly breathed still in a state of awe as Gail slipped her arms around her waist, resting her chin on her shoulder. "This is so beautiful; I can't believe you did all this."

"Technically I didn't, it was Traci and Andy," the blonde replied, placing a kiss to the doc's neck before dropping her arms and leading Holly over to the blanket. "But it was my idea."

"Well I love it," Holly grinned up at her girlfriend who helped her sit back against the tree trunk before she walked behind it and produced a small cooler and basket. Gail poured them each a glass of wine before digging into the picnic basket and laying out a spread of fresh cut fruit, cheese and crackers, and bite sized vegetables. "Wow, you are officially my favorite person."

"I wasn't before?" Gail asked, dramatically bringing her hand to her chest mockingly as she sat down beside the brunette, producing a bag of cheese puffs.

"Really?" the doc asked with a chuckle and shaking her head at her girlfriend's choice of snack.

"What?" Gail looked at her innocently, popping a puff into her mouth and taking a sip of wine.

"You're insane, you know that right?" Holly chuckled.

"I've heard that somewhere before… what does that make you then?" Peck asked, locking eyes with the doc who held her gaze before tilting her head slightly.

"Crazy…. And in love," Holly answered and Gail leaned in to kiss her softly.

They fell into easy conversation, telling each other about their day while enjoying the food and wine. Once they'd had their fill, they snuggled down against the tree, Holly cuddling into Gail's side. A comfortable silence falling over them as they looked up at the stars, perfectly content to be in each other's company.

"You know what's funny?" Gail said out of the blue.

"That is a question with endless possibilities…." Holly mused with a smirk and Gail smiled, glancing down at her.

"Life and how quickly things change," Peck said and Holly tilted her head up to look at her, knowing there was more to that statement and waited patiently. "A year ago I was sitting in your bathtub with a horrible haircut which thankfully an awesome nerd was able to fix for me," she said, giving Holly a gentle squeeze and felt her laugh against her shoulder, "waiting to hear if my friends were going to be ok. They were a hot mess and I was too consumed with my own bullshit to be there for them…we almost broke up, which again I'm still sorry for overacting, just saying…" she added and Holly pinched her, silently telling her to move on. "Frank was reassigned to another division while ours was put under a microscope…but everything worked out in the end," she said sounding mystified and thankful.

"Sam and Chloe pulled through, Traci and Steve stopped being blind about their feelings for each other, Oliver was promoted, Chris is almost tolerable again, we sorted our crap out…" Gail continued her tone rising happily at that before taking on a mock-annoyance. "I patched things up with Andy…" again the doc pinched her with a laugh. "Now we're getting a house and a dog. Life in general is just really good right now."

"It's very good," Holly agreed, leaning in to place a kiss on Peck's cheek before settling in.

"I mean look at me, I'm sitting on a beach, under the stars with the hottest nerd on the planet eating cheese puffs and drinking wine," Gail said with a satisfied grin as if to further prove her point.

"Very sophisticated," Holly remarked with a giggle.

"Life is good," Gail said again as she drained her glass and reached for the bottle only to find it empty. "Life sucks…." Peck trailed sadly, shaking the bottle causing Holly to laugh at her heartily. "Here I am babbling on about how great things are going and I run out of wine…"

"Is there more?" Holly asked pushing herself up onto her elbow.

"Holly, I'm a Peck, do you think I'd only bring one bottle of alcohol? The million dollar question is did McNally pack it?" the blonde asked with a chuckle as Holly stood and flipped the cooler's lid open to find the other bottle on ice.

"Wow a 1983 bottle of Brolo, this is some good…" Holly started to say as she turned around to find Gail on one knee, looking at her longingly with a black velvet box in her hands, Holly's train of thought instantly escaping her and the bottle slipped from her hands into the sand.

"The best part of my life is you," Gail said with absolution and Holly felt her chest tighten. "Hol, you're the one I want to come home to every night and cuddle up with on the couch and complain about my day to. You're the one I want to go to bed with every night and fight for the blankets with. I want us to sit at the Penny and people watch until we can't see straight. I want to raise a family and grown old with you. You're the one…you've always been the one, and I want you to be my plus one forever," Gail said, opening the lid to reveal a beautiful platinum band and large diamond before looking back up at the brunette with hopeful eyes. "So, will you wear this for a while?"

"How long were you thinking?" Holly asked, gazing affectionately at her through tear filled eyes, a smile stretching across her face.

"I'm hoping for at least 50-60 years…" the blonde replied with a shrug, glancing off to the side with a smirk before fixing her crystal blue gaze on Holly once again, her tone turning serious. "Marry me, Holly…"

Holly couldn't hold back the tears any longer and somehow managed to smile wider still as she nodded her head slowly, her movements becoming more and more prominent as she giggled, her hands coming up to cover her mouth momentarily before dropping them once again.

"Yes," Holly said, finding her voice and Gail smiled, visibly breathing a sigh of relief and slid the engagement ring onto Holly's slender finger. It was a perfect fit.

"Thank god cuz this baby is not returnable," Peck said with a chuckle and Holly giggled as she rose to her feet, instantly wrapping her arms around Gail's neck and pulling her into a passionate kiss.

"I love you so much," Holly said against the blonde's lips as she pulled back and rested her forehead on Peck's, tears happily trailing down both of their cheeks.

"I love you more," Gail replied, closing the small gap to kiss her fiancé tenderly and looking forward to her future for the first time in her life.


	17. Chapter 17- Secret Revealed

**A/N: Hey guys!** **Thank you all once again for your feedback and continued support, I cannot stress how much it is appreciated. I was really nervous that the engagement chapter wasn't going to come across the way I had envisioned it in my head, but thanks to your feedback I know that it did. :) So thank you for that!**

 **Here's a short little fluff-filled chapter to tide you over for the holiday. I hope you enjoy.**

 **To those who celebrate, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving everyone!**

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Chapter 17 - Secret Revealed

The ride back from the beach had seemed to slip past in the blink of an eye as the women basked in the joy of the moment. The atmosphere had been almost electrically charged with excitement and anticipation, the drive filled with loving glances and light kisses pressed to the top of intertwined hands.

After a mini, but intense make-out session filled with promise in the car the pair finally made it into the apartment. Gail grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge and headed for the living room while Holly hung up her jacket. A moment later, Holly joined her on the couch, snuggling up beside the blonde and lazily ran her hand along her thigh. Gail glanced over at Holly already knowing what was on the doc's mind and couldn't help the smile that spread across her face when she found Holly's dark eyes glued to her own hand.

"Go ahead," Gail said still smiling as Holly grinned shyly at getting caught staring at her ring.

"What?" the brunette asked, chuckling.

"Go call your mom, I know you're dying to," Peck said still smiling and Holly chuckled again, her face starting to ache from the never ending grin that had adorned it for what felt like the entire night.

"You don't mind if I call her real quick?" Holly asked almost nervously as Gail gave her an encouraging nudge from the couch.

"Go," the blonde said with a giggle. "Do the girl-talk thing."

Holly stood in front of the sofa and turned back to look at Gail with adoration. She stepped between the blonde's knees and rested her hands on the back of the couch as she leaned in and gave Gail a tender kiss.

"What was that for?" Peck asked suddenly bashful and slightly flushed when Holly pulled back and shrugged.

"Because I can," Holly replied like that was explanation enough and headed upstairs to call her mother and share their good news. Gail smiled as she watched her go, thinking if their days together were half as happy and carefree as they currently were she'd live to be a very happy woman.

After popping the top off her beer and taking a long pull, Gail settled into the couch and started up the XBOX, pleased to see Dov and Chris were on and jumped into their game of Left for Dead.

"Blondie is that really you or is the good doc trying to pull one over on us again?" Dov's timid voice sounded through her headset.

Gail couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips.

"Yeah cuz I need Holly to do my bidding for me, dipshit," Peck replied with a chuckle as her character saved Epstein's from being mulled by a zombie. "You're welcome…"

"Oh yeah it's definitely Gail," Chris snickered.

They played through a few chapters, but truth be told Gail's head wasn't in it. She kept getting sidetracked by thoughts of the engagement and she fought the urge to tell them right then and there, but thought it was only fair that Holly be present when she did. Gail was shocked that neither Traci or Andy had blown up her phone wanting to know how things went, but figured it was only a matter of time.

"Earth to Peck…" Dov's voice suddenly sounded in her ear through the headset and she blinked, realizing she'd stopped playing and saw her character standing idly on the screen while Chris and Dov's characters covered her. The scene imitating real life wasn't lost on her and she felt a swirl of emotions for her boys; despite their bickering and head-butting at times they were like brothers to her and held a special place in her heart.

"Sorry…had to change the batteries real quick," Gail answered back, moving her character and rolling her eyes at the lame excuse and bounced the wireless controller against her knee.

"That's what she said," Chris added causing all of them to snicker like high-schoolers.

"Very mature Diaz, why is it again you don't have a girlfriend?" she asked playfully and could hear Dov belly laughing down the line.

A short time later, Holly came downstairs trying to stop herself from grinning and instantly walked over to Gail, stepping over the blonde's outstretched legs resting on the coffee table and straddled her thighs, blocking Gail's entire view of the TV.

"Uhh…" Peck said, holding her controller in one hand while lifting the other out to her side palm up.

"Is there something you'd like to share with me, hun?" the brunette asked, slipping the headset from her head and setting the controller on the cushion beside them. Gail searched her dark eyes that gleamed back at her brightly.

"I don't think so…" Gail replied sounding confused and looking the part. "I think I'm all out of surprises after this baby," she said, lifting Holly's left hand to her lips and pressing a kiss to the ring on her second to last finger.

Holly smiled at the gesture, but shook her head no.

"You're going to have to give me a hint, babe," the blonde remarked.

"Oh…I don't know…" Holly sighed, playing coy. "Maybe something to do with your whereabouts this past weekend…"

Gail's eyes instantly flickered with understanding.

"Yeah," Holly nodded grinning smugly.

"It was the right thing to do, you are their only daughter after all," Gail said with a shrug.

"I can't believe you flew all the way to Vancouver to ask my parent's for permission. That's so sweet," she gushed, cupping Gail's face in her hands and placed a quick kiss to her lips.

When she pulled back, Holly looked at Gail with a sense of wonder, never would she have imagined the shy, socially awkward officer would fly across the country to go see her parents without her, let alone be traditional in asking for their daughter's hand in marriage. It was yet another example of how serious Gail was about her and them as a couple. Holly felt her heart swell and fell even more in love with the woman beneath her.

"You just continue to amaze me…" Holly trailed off before leaning in to capture Peck's lips in a heated kiss, a low moan escaping her throat when things began to escalate rapidly as the night's events continued to sink in.

"Mmm," Gail hummed when Holly's fingers danced around the hem of her shirt before pulling back. "Wait…wait…" she sputtered when Holly continued to close the gap between them each time she pulled back.

"What's wrong?" the brunette asked, sitting back a bit and resting her hands on top of the couch, breathing heavily. Waiting was clearly the last thing she wanted to do at the moment.

"They can still hear us," Gail whispered and pointed to the headset next to Holly's knee and the doc's eyes went wide.

"Do you think they heard about..." Holly trailed off, hoping she hadn't just spoiled Gail's fun of telling her friends.

"I don't think so, they're still playing," Peck replied in a near whisper glancing at the screen to see their characters running amuck, guns blazing. "Let's not give them a show though."

They both chuckled as Gail snatched the headset cord from the bottom of the controller and turned off the TV, tossing the remote aside and reaching forward to pull Holly back in all in the same motion.

"Now, where were we?" Gail asked, running her hands up Holly's back tenderly.

"Right…about…here…" Holly replied punctuating each word with a kiss to her fiancé's neck.


	18. Chapter 18- Letting the Cat Out

**A/N: Hey guys! Not to sound like a broken record, but thank you for all your feedback and kind words. Your continued support for this little idea I've had rattling around in my head is highly, highly appreciated.**

 **Without further delay here's chapter 18 (wow, it's hard to believe we're 18 chapters in already).**

 **Enjoy! :)**

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chapter 18- Letting the Cat Out of the Bag

Gail pulled into her usual parking spot outside the Black Penny and killed the engine, turning in her seat to face Holly.

"I swear if I walk in there and find Traci and Andy running around like Chihuahuas hopped up on caffeine I'm going to taze someone," Gail said looking off towards the front door of the bar. She had been relatively lucky to avoid them both most of the day.

The blonde had purposely planned a narrow entrance into parade and had made it out onto patrol with Dov before either of the two women left the station. Truth be told Gail would've made a clean getaway had Epstein not forgotten a piece of evidence in the car for their last booking of the day. Luckily the locker room had been full with the shift change so all Gail had to do was play dumb when McNally tried to coyly bring it. Peck figured it would've been obvious to the two how the night had gone considering she wasn't acting like a homicidal bitch all day.

"In the eye perhaps?" Holly asked with a smirk and the blonde slowly turned to look at her causing Holly to scrunch up her face, "I'm sorry, it's too soon."

"It's not my favorite memory…" Peck trailed off looking down and fidgeting with her fingernails. Holly sighed and reached across the center console, intertwining their fingers.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up," the brunette apologized. "I tell you what, why don't we go inside, have a couple drinks, share our good news, and then head home so I can make it up to you for the eye comment," Holly said suggestively rubbing Peck's hand.

The past 10 hours had almost been a continuous "celebration" for the pair, their appetites for one another proving nearly insatiable, and in all honesty, Holly was surprised either of them had gotten out of bed to go to work today.

"Not a bad plan doc," Gail replied with a smile before leaning in to press a kiss to the brunette's lips. "Come on, let's get this over with."

With that Gail threw the door open and made her way around the car, meeting Holly at the front bumper and taking her hand. As they strolled through the parking lot to the entrance Gail caught herself playing with Holly's ring.

"Wait, how do you want to do this? Should I take the ring off and you can tell them?" Holly asked, stopping just outside the door.

"Nah, leave it on. Let's see how sharp their observation skills really are," the blonde replied, pulling the door open and following Holly inside.

Like any typical night, their friends from 15 were huddled at the table at the rear of the bar. Gail placed her hand on the small of Holly's back as they weaved through the crowd to join the other officers.

"Hey guys," Traci smiled as Dov quickly stole a couple more chairs from the table next to them. The pair exchanged pleasantries before removing their coats. Gail plopped down in one of the chairs and pulled Holly onto her lap, catching the brunette by surprise.

Holly turned to steal a glance of her beautiful fiancé to find Gail's bright blue eyes already looking at her warmly and smiled, causing Peck to answer back with a grin of her own. Without warning, Gail leaned forward and planted a quick kiss to the doc's lips.

"Well I could definitely use a drink," Nick piped in suddenly, having newly arrived at the table to see his ex kissing her girlfriend. While he didn't love Gail that way anymore and was thrilled she'd found Holly, it still weirded him out a bit to see her be affectionate with someone else. "Anyone else need one?"

Almost everyone raised their hand and Nick's shoulders slumped in mock sadness.

"I'll give you a hand," Dov offered rising from his seat.

After gathering everyone's order the two made their way up to the bar while everyone else fell into easy conversations.

Gail was quietly listening to Holly and Chloe chat about a show they'd seen on TV when Traci leaned in close to her ear behind Holly's back.

"That's quite a piece of jewelry the good doctor's sporting there," Traci said, keeping her voice low as she nodded towards the brunette's hand on her knee.

"Yeah it is…" Peck grinned before nodding her head. "Why do you seem so surprised? I showed it to you a few weeks ago."

"It looks even better on her hand," Traci smiled and sat forward again before anyone grew suspicious of their hushed conversation.

It wasn't long before Nick and Dov returned with a handful of drinks and set everything down in the center of the table. Holly leaned forward and grabbed their beers, turning to hand Gail hers.

"Shut up!" Chloe exclaimed, eyes wide. Her sudden change in volume causing the group to jump with a start. The beer in Holly's grasp slipped, but luckily for her Gail was able to grip the neck of the bottle before it smashed onto the floor beside them.

"Jesus Chloe, thanks for the heart attack," Gail sighed as her heartbeat tried to return to some semblance of normality.

"What's the problem?" Dov asked, rubbing Chloe's back with a look of concern.

"What the hell is that?" Price asked pointing across the table and everyone followed her gaze to Holly's left hand wrapped around her beer. Gail smirked as a full-fledged grin spread across Traci and Andy's faces while Holly suddenly felt very shy.

"Well it looks like a ring," Gail replied, playing coy as she took a sip from her bottle. Even though she couldn't see Holly's face she could see the tips of her ears flush slightly red.

"Woah…" Diaz breathed, his eyes going wide.

"I know, but is that?" Chloe asked stopping short of actually saying it as a slow smile spread across her face.

"Is it what?" Gail asked slowly raising her brows, she loved messing with Price. Chloe rolled her eyes; of course Gail wasn't going to make this easy.

"Did you guys get engaged?" Chloe asked, looking like she was about to explode with giddiness. Gail and Holly exchanged a warm smile before Peck nodded.

"We did," Gail said before a face splitting smile enveloped the pair and the table erupted into a mixture of applause, hugs, and congratulations. Traci and Andy slyly high-fived under the table for having played their part.

"I can't believe it, someone finally managed to melt the ice queen," Dov said stepping back and was quickly elbowed by Peck. "Oww, I'm kidding…mostly."

Chloe rolled her eyes at him before literally hopping back around to face the happy couple.

"Ok I want details," Price said giddily clapping her hands together and bouncing slightly. "Like _details_ details; where it happened, what was said…really paint me a colorful picture."

"Chloe," Traci chided in a motherly tone while giving her a stern look to let her know she was being a little too nosey.

"What? I'm curious…" Price said turning expectantly back to the happy couple.

The pair exchanged another glance as Gail patted Holly's hip to stand up and stepped past her.

"I'm going to leave story time to you," the blonde said with a smile before leaning in to place a quick kiss to the doc's forehead and lowering her voice. "Don't tell them all the sappy details, I have a reputation to uphold," she smiled and yelped when Holly pinched her ass.

"Nick, you want to play a game?" Peck asked nodding towards the billiards table. Nick slowly looked up from his phone in confusion.

"You hate pool, you're terrible at it," he replied suspiciously.

"Humor me," she replied and weaved her way through the slightly inebriated crowd and began arranging the striped and solid balls in the rack.

A few minutes later Collins set two fresh beers on the side table and grabbed a pool stick from the wall. After chalking the tip he leaned over the rail and lined up the cue ball before sending it rocketing down the table into the front of the triangle. He chuckled and dropped his chin to his chest when the balls barely moved.

"You never were one for a tight rack," he commented as the cue ball stopped without pocketing a single ball on the table. Gail just quirked her brow and he suddenly realized his choice of words. "I meant the game, Gail."  
She couldn't suppress the chuckle that rose from her chest as she took a sip from one of the bottles and rounded the table. Gail quickly leaned over and sent the white cue ball into the cluster of balls, all strategy clearly absent from her shot. Again, nothing fell.

"So Gail Peck is getting married huh?" he asked checking an angle before leaning back over the table to aim his shot.

"I am," Gail smiled fondly.

"At least you know she won't leave you at the altar," Collins said with a smirk and she nodded when he sunk a striped ball in the side pocket.

"No, she definitely won't," the blonde trailed off, absently playing with the grip of her stick. "Is this weird for you?" she finally asked.

Nick stopped mid shot and stood up straight, contemplating his answer.

"I'd be lying if I said no," he replied truthfully. "It's not like I'm harboring some deep seeded unrequited feelings for you, I mean we tried twice, but we just didn't work. We're better off as friends and we both know that…but there's just something weird about seeing you with someone else."

"Is it because I'm with another woman?" Gail asked. "Some guys take that as a blow to their ego."

"No, that has nothing to do with it," he answered without hesitation. "Holly's great, I couldn't be happier that things have worked out so well for you two. Let's face it she's perfect for you."

"What is it then?" she asked curiously, tilting her head to the side.

"I don't know exactly…maybe it's because when I see you two together; the way you look at her, the way you touch her, I know what that used to feel like," he shrugged.

Gail nodded, knowing exactly what he meant despite his struggle to put it into words. She'd felt unexpectedly territorial when Nick had briefly dated a woman he'd met at the coffee shop. It wasn't that she wished she'd been the one to kiss him, she just felt oddly protective of him.

"I'm always going to care about you, with our history how could I not?" he smiled and stepped closer. "I am really happy for you, Gail," he said sincerely and pulled her into a hug that started out awkward before the blonde finally returned it. After a few seconds they parted.

"Now come on, hold the stick like I taught you and take your time," he said, lightly slapping the bumper and encouraging her up to the table to take a shot.

Holly glanced over at the billiards table just as Gail stepped back from Nick's hug, their eyes meeting and the pair shared a smile before the blonde moved up to the table. Holly was relieved that Nick was being supportive considering the history with her fiancé. It was great that despite their issues and the way things ended between them that they could still be friends.

Though Gail hadn't mentioned anything outright, Holly knew she was nervous about what Collin's reaction would be to their big news and even from across the bar she could see the relief evident in Gail's body language. If the smile on her face wasn't proof enough the relaxed set of her shoulders was.

"Dude, I told you I heard them say something about an engagement when we were playing Left for Dead last night," Chris said, nudging Dov lightly before taking a sip from his bottle.

"Wait you guys were playing video games after the proposal? You're a better woman than I am…" Traci said, toasting Holly with a chuckle.

"Gail played while I called my parents to tell them the good news," Holly replied with a laugh. "But as it turned out, they already knew it was coming."

The brunette glanced around the table finding blank and questioning stares looking back at her.  
"Remember when Gail took off last weekend?" she continued and received a mixture of nods and murmurs. Dov and Chris received a swift, pointed glare of warning from Chloe. "Well it turns out she flew to Vancouver to ask my parents for their blessing."

"Aww," Andy muttered making a face and smiling. "I never would've taken Gail as being so traditional."

"That's adorable!" Chloe exclaimed before lowering her voice conspiratorially. "Don't tell her I said that though…"

"She continues to amaze me," Holly replied with a huge grin, recalling the memory.

"But wait, she didn't finish the last game…" Chris began furrowing his brows. "Oh never mind."

"Sorry about that..." the brunette replied taking a short pull from her bottle as Traci chuckled at the look on Dov's face.

"So have you guys picked a date yet? Oh, what about colors? I know this great DJ who could probably do the reception," Chloe rattled off in rapid-fire secession.

"They just got engaged last night Chloe, I doubt they've made any plans yet," Traci said with a chuckle and Price looked visibly bummed out.

"Traci's right we haven't discussed anything yet, we're just enjoying the moment," Holly replied, breaking into a smile when suddenly a pair of familiar pale arms wound around her midsection followed by the gentle brushing of lips on the side of her neck.

"Are you making me out to be a big softy?" Gail asked, nuzzling into the side of Holly's neck.

"No, your deepest, darkest secrets are safe with me," Holly replied, turning in the blonde's arms and resting her forearms on her shoulders. "Who won?"

Gail let out a disgusted sigh.

"Not me," she replied dejectedly. "Nick's right, I'm terrible at pool."

Holly grinned devilishly and leaned in close to the blonde's ear.

"I can think of a few things you are exceptionally good at," she whispered, her hushed tone dropping into a seductive husk before she playfully nipped at Gail's earlobe; the blonde's mouth going dessert dry in an instant.

"Get a room," Dov said, trying to pull off a fake cough into his sleeve. Chloe reached over and quickly pinched him in the side, smiling at the pair who quickly kissed and stepped back up to the table.

"Well I've got to propose a toast," Oliver said, lifting his glass causing everyone else to follow suit before he turned towards the couple. "To my favorite rookie…" he began and was rewarded with a chorus of sarcastic boos and a handful of popcorn to the face. "Don't act like you didn't know," he said with an exaggerated eye roll before getting serious once again. "To my favorite rookie and pathologist, may you be blessed with a long and happy life together," Ollie concluded clanking glasses with everyone before they threw their drinks back.

"Just warning you now Gail, if things go south we're keeping Holly in the divorce," Dov chuckled and was promptly swatted in the back of the head, first by Chloe and then Andy.

"Thanks guys," Gail smirked with a nod at the two for doing her dirty work for her. She glanced at her fiancé, "you don't have to worry about that though because I'm going to do everything in my power to keep her around," she said, giving Holly's shoulder a squeeze and grinned widely. "I'm not going to screw this up again," Peck said sincerely, as much to the brunette as the rest of the table.

"Just keep two words in the back of your mind Gail," Oliver said with a smirk.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Steve said, ticking the words off on his fingers.

"Yes dear," Sam added, following suit and Ollie shook his head.

"Also two good words, but not the ones I had in mind, oh no," Shaw said, patting the older Peck on the back before turning to the younger. "Holding cell," he said simply causing Holly to throw her head back in laughter as Gail smirked and dropped her head forward in defeat when the table burst into a whooping applause.

"Nope, never again," Holly said with a smirk, lifting her drink to her lips.

"Wait a second, again? As in you two were locked in before?" Chloe asked, looking confused. "Where the hell was I?"

"Chloe, Chloe, Chloe…." Oliver said, draping his arm around the woman's shoulders and giving it a loving squeeze. "Have you met our Petulant little Peck, here?" he asked gesturing to the blonde. "She can be pretty stubborn and snotty and difficult, much like a pissed off teenager."

"I'm sitting right here ya know?" Gail said glaring at her sergeant.

"Wait you haven't heard the story before?" Nick asked from the other side of the table, thinking it was impossible until Price shook her head no and suddenly looking like she'd missed out on a party she hadn't been invited to.

"It was Oliver's mastermind plan," McNally said, popping a few peanuts into her mouth.

"And it worked, didn't it?" Shaw replied proudly, looking at the two women on his left who shared a tender look before smiling widely.

"Ok, someone needs to tell me this story now," Chloe said, looking around the table, but no one spoke. "Like yesterday kind of now."

Steve, Traci, and Oliver all shared a look before Ollie slapped his hand on the table lightly and took a deep breath.

"Ok so you remember when Gail was really grumpy and short with everyone…" Oliver began but was quickly cut off.

"You mean this morning?" Steve asked sarcastically and quickly felt a handful of peanuts hitting him in the face. The table chuckled and he looked to his sister as he brushed the shells from his shirt, but Gail gazed back at him looking overly innocent and pointed to Holly beside her. The brunette just shook her head and looked to Oliver.

"Right after Fight Night," Shaw continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "These two had a falling out and stopped talking to each other so I concocted a genius plan."

"He means stupid," Sam threw in quickly.

"A genius plan," Ollie repeated again, emphasizing the words, "to finally break the silence and it worked."

"Okay, but how did you get them both in the holding cell?" Chloe asked, obviously wanting more details.

"Well see that's the genius part, Holly had stopped by the station to drop off a report," he continued. Gail looked at Holly and scoffed when she heard the brunette's _reason_ for being there that day, she'd heard that line many times though truth be told, she wasn't complaining. Holly pulled a face and lightly pinched the blonde's side.

"I actually _was_ dropping off a report, thank you very much," Holly replied and turned to Traci. "Wasn't I?"

"Yes, I had asked Holly to come to the station to discuss some DNA results she had run for me," Nash confirmed with a nod, but Gail looked at her skeptically for a long moment making the detective feel uneasy.

"That was all part of the plan, wasn't it?" Gail asked suspiciously.

"It totally was," Traci replied with a smile and nod causing Holly's mouth to drop open and spread into a smile, she had been none the wiser until now. Gail nodded with a smirk, proud of herself for figuring it out before the doc.

"So Holly had stopped by to drop off a report and Gail just so happened to be assigned to booking," Oliver said, getting the story back on track. "When Peck went in to clean the cell after the last guy was released I asked Holly if she could come back and take a look at a drunk we had sleeping it off. We brought her in through the secondary door and as soon as she rounded the corner we gave her a little nudge inside and closed the cell door behind her," Oliver grinned and bumped fists with Traci proudly.

Gail rolled her eyes and exhaled heavily for show, trying to act like she was still angry about the whole thing when in reality she was happy it happened; it had opened the door for them to discuss the whole "Lisa/Having Fun" fiasco and given them the opportunity to have a second chance at their relationship.

"Yeah let me tell you, those cement benches in there are not comfortable at all," Gail said, groaning as she stretched her back. Holly grinned at her.

"You seemed pretty comfortable to me, you were sprawled out with a pillow behind your head," Holly chuckled, thinking back to that night. "I thought you were going to fall asleep."

"Oh believe me, if she had I was suppose to go in and take the pillow," Andy said frowning. "Thank god it never came to that…"

"I can't believe that worked," Chloe said with a smile as she reached for her drink.

"We all knew these two weren't finished so we merely provided them the opportunity to talk, something they hadn't been doing on their own," Traci said with a smirk as she looked to the pair crowded closely together beside her.

"But couldn't that have royally backfired since you didn't know the whole story?" Chloe asked and Sam nodded to her appreciatively.

"That's what I tried to tell them, but you know those two," Swarek said, gesturing to Traci and Oliver, "Once they get a hair brained idea stuck in their head there's no going back."

Liam, the bartender, suddenly appeared with their pizzas and Gail quickly pushed the pepperoni pie away from her in mock disgust and slid their barbeque chicken pizza closer.

Everyone chatted amongst themselves while they ate and as they did Gail glanced around the table in silent wonder. Despite being in a slightly bustling bar with random drunks stumbling around this felt almost like a family dinner and she liked it.

It wasn't anything like the Peck family dinner's she was accustomed to.

Sure there was arguing, but the difference was these banters came out of jest and playful poking of fun at one another, there was respect and love behind it; it wasn't the cruel reminder of mistakes and misfortunes that Elaine Peck had mastered over the years. For that reason alone, Gail knew she could get used to this sort of thing. While the group gathered here wasn't her biological family, they were still her family and what God hadn't given to her through blood he was making up for through friends.

And that was definitely something she could live with.

"Do you want another?" Gail asked Holly, setting her empty bottle down on the table.

"Nah I think I'm good."

"Ok, one more and then we'll head out?" Peck asked, taking another bite of pizza.

"Sounds good, I'll get it though so you can keep eating," Holly offered, pushing her empty plate towards the center of the table and rising from her seat.

"I'll come with you," Traci said, grabbing her wallet and following.

"You're my favorite," Gail called after her retreating form and received an over the shoulder grin from the doc as she headed to the bar.

"So my little sister is getting married before me? It's a sad, sad day for Captain Awesome," Steve said, sliding into the newly vacated seat beside Gail and taking a sip from his beer in mock sadness.

"Aww your ego will bounce back, I promise," Gail replied with a tap on the knee as she took another bite of pizza.

"All kidding aside, I'm really happy for you," the elder Peck said, holding his sister's gaze and saluting her with his bottle. "You and Holly are going to be great, I have no doubt about it."

Despite knowing her brother would be supportive Gail found herself taken aback by the whole situation. Out of the two of them, Steve had always excelled at everything he tried; school, sports, the academy, being a police officer, and now a Peck in general. Subconsciously she figured love would be no different and thought she'd be attending his wedding before her own.

Truth be told, Holly was the X-factor in the scenario, lord knows Gail never saw this life for herself before the sassy pathologist trudged into her crime scene- the ownership of which was still up for debate depending on which of the two you asked. She'd been fairly content with the way things had been going back then, but now that all of it had changed Gail wouldn't go back for the world.

"I'm not going to lie, it's kind of scary," she finally said with a nervous chuckle. "So much is going to change and while that would normally send me running for the hills, I'm excited for it."

Steve nodded and stared at his sister, knowing exactly what she meant.

"My baby sister is growing up…getting married, buying a house…popping out a few kids maybe someday…" he trailed off and she chuckled.

"That's going to be Holly's department…"

"So you guys have talked about it?" he asked curiously, liking the idea of becoming an uncle.

"Just in passing, nothing in depth," Gail answered with a shrug.

"Not to get up in your business or anything, but if you guys want me to donate so you have equal parts Peck and Stewart, I'm willing…" Steve offered and Gail stared at him for a moment. "What? Not trying to be weird or anything, clearly Holly and I wouldn't sleep together…"

"Ok stop, that's not a mental image I want anywhere close to my brain," she said with a disgusted look, waiving him off, and tossing the last little bit of pizza back onto her plate- clearly done with it. "In all seriousness though, I have thought about how that kind of thing would work cuz it would obviously be Holly's egg so the baby would at least look like her which is clearly not a bad thing…"

"Hey I'm just throwing the option out there for when you guys start getting serious about it, no pressure obviously," he replied light heartedly.

"I know, I appreciate it, it's good to know that…that," she awkwardly gestured towards his waist, "is an option."

"Not to bring up a downer topic, but are you going to invite mom and dad to the wedding?" Steve asked gently, knowing it was a touchy subject.

"Damn, I haven't even thought about it…" Gail said taking a deep breath, suddenly feeling anxious. "I don't know if I'd want Mom there if she can't accept me and my feelings for Holly, I think it might cause unnecessary tension. I'd like dad to be there for sure…but I doubt mom would come which means he won't… I just want our day to be perfect, ya know? I'm going to have to really think about it."

Her brother nodded in understanding, knowing exactly what she meant. Hell, he could make an argument for both sides.

"Well I have your back with whatever you decide, the day is about you and Holly, not them," he replied with conviction.

"I know and I appreciate that. Even though there's a ton of planning to be done with the wedding, one thing has always been clear," she continued. "I would like you to be my best man."

At this request Steve's head snapped up, meeting her gaze.

"Really?" he asked, sounding surprised. "I thought for sure you'd want Oliver…"

"While I love Ollie dearly," she began with a chuckle as they looked over to see Shaw toss a peanut in the air and completely miss his mouth, "you're my brother and I want you standing up there with me."

"You got it," he replied with a smile as Traci and Holly came back to the table. "But I'm not wearing a dress," he laughed.

"Not sure what we just walked back into…" Traci said with a chuckle after only catching the end of her boyfriend's remark.

"I just asked Steve to be my best man, but he's refusing to wear a dress…." Gail answered, pushing out her lower lip in a pout.

"Ohhh that's too bad, I could see you rocking an off the shoulder gown," Holly teased, handing her fiancé her bottle.

"With lace and a plunging neckline," Gail chimed in, taking a sip of beer.

"Would look great with that little patch of chest hair…." Traci added.

"I don't like any of you," Steve replied in mock sadness as he rose from his seat, "I'm going to hang out with my friends who are nice to me."

"You don't have any friends," Gail called after him with a smile as he made his way over to the dart boards where a few of the guys from Guns and Gangs were playing.

Holly smiled and gave her a light, playful slap on the arm.

"Be nice," she said, retaking her position on Gail's lap despite the empty chair beside her, failing to stifle a yawn.

"We can get going if you want, I know you've had a long day," Peck said rubbing her back and planting a kiss on her shoulder.

"I'm in no rush hun, you can finish your beer," Holly replied.

"It's ok," the blonde answered sliding her bottle onto the table.

"You just want to go home, don't you?"

"I do," Gail replied with a chuckle, but realized what it sounded like and then quickly added, "but not for that reason."

"Mmmhmm," Holly hummed arching a brow playfully.


	19. Chapter 19- Don't Wanna Miss a Thing

**A/N: Hello and happy new year everyone! :) Sorry for the delay in posting another chapter, things were a little hectic the holidays. For those who celebrate, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**

 **I forgot to mention in my notes from the last chapter that I had written out the whole scene of Gail and Holly being locked in the cellblock to work out their issues. When I wrote chapter 18 that scene just kind of unfolded in my head and came to life so if there's enough interest in it I'll post it as well, maybe as like a chapter 18b or something. lol**

 **Thank you once again for the reviews and kind words of encouragement, they really do help keep writer's motivated and reinforce what we're envisioning is translating well for our readers. So thank you and keep them coming. lol :)**

 **Alright guys, enjoy!**

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chapter 19 - Don't Wanna Miss A Thing

Despite only a few short months passing since their engagement, things had changed considerably for Gail and Holly.

After a short and tireless hunt, they finally found their dream home and while moving in had been a breeze, finding the time to unpack and organize had posed a rather large challenge in the following weeks. Gail had been doing a few ride-alongs after her normal shift with a K9 Unit from the 5th Division while Holly had been buried in work of her own at the lab. After getting frustrated with living out of cardboard boxes for an extended period of time, the doc had unexpectedly taken a personal day and unpacked the entire house much to Peck's surprise when she exhaustedly staggered in later that evening. Gail still had to ask her fiancé where things were from time to time, but for the most part they had settled in just fine.

The pair had decided to plant their roots in a beautiful 4 bedroom, two-story home just outside the city limits. Luckily for them, the house hadn't required much work; except for some re-painting it had been move-in ready. They had been blessed to find most of what they'd had on their wish list in this home.

The first floor had a large open living room complete with fireplace and oversized mantle that butted up to an open dining room, there was a spacious kitchen with a breakfast bar off to the right and new stainless steel appliances that Holly had been overly excited to use since their initial walkthrough with the realtor. French double doors behind the dining room led out to the large privacy fenced yard complete with a monstrous deck and a hot tub Gail instantly fell for. The attached two and a half car garage was just beyond the bathroom and laundry room, a bonus for Holly who prayed the convenient layout would prevent her from tripping over Gail's gear bag and boots that were often discarded by the door at the apartment.

The second floor featured a spacious master bedroom that had made Gail's jaw drop the first time she saw it, she declared it bigger than their apartment's living room as she gazed out the large window that was now at the head of their bed overlooking the back yard. The room had two large walk-in closets- big enough for all of Holly's flannel and backpacks Gail had quipped- and a massive on-suite bathroom with both a large jet bathtub and glass cubed shower stall. They also had a decent sized guest room, another bedroom across the hall from their own that the pair secretly figured would be a nursery, and then a cozy office at the end of the hall for Holly to write and do her research in.

The women had instantly fallen in love with the finished basement. Gail had practically drooled over the space and had mentally started planning where the future pool table and dart board would go after fawning over the wet bar.

On top of getting settled into the new house was the hectic matter of planning the wedding.

Most of the big important decisions had been made; the date set, the venue chosen and booked, the wedding party selected, flowers, food, and DJ picked. It was the smaller minute facets looming over their heads that was causing Gail chest pains; the guest list, table settings, seating arrangements, the party favors, decorations, music list. It had begun to get overwhelming so the pair hired a wedding coordinator to present them with some options instead of having to start everything from scratch. This had helped tremendously and the couple felt organized and on track now that they had a list of things to decide and an itinerary-or game plan as Gail often referred to it as- for the actual wedding day that was starting to take shape.

And it was the same itinerary that had Gail feeling slightly bothered at the moment.

"Hol, have you ever been to a wedding before?" Gail asked sarcastically skimming down the reception portion of the agenda. The brunette's brow furrowed as a smirk spread across her face.

"Apparently our first kiss didn't leave the impression I thought it had," Holly remarked, walking passed the blonde and around the breakfast bar to put their empty wine glasses in the sink.

"I don't think that really counts as our first kiss seeing how we had both overindulged in champagne and you totally kissed me," Peck replied. Holly turned from the sink still wiping her hands off on a dish towel.

"You must've had more champagne than I did because I clearly remember you kissing me back," she retorted, leaning against the counter.

"Yeah for like a second because you practically ran from the room to go dancing," Peck remarked making a face at the end of the sentence and earning a swat from the dish towel.

"See, you just admitted you kissed me back, therefore it qualifies as the first kiss," Holly said proudly with the smile to match.

"I admit nothing…" Gail responded defiantly.

"Anyways since our first kiss was in fact at a wedding the answer to your semi-ridiculous, yet oddly cute question is yes," the doc replied smugly.

"Did you happen to pay attention while you were there? Cuz you're missing a few things here," Peck said flicking the paper with her finger as her fiancé tried to play dumb.

"Like what?" Holly asked turning back towards the sink to wash their glasses despite having a perfectly good dishwasher beside her, using the act to hide from Gail's gaze. Holly already knew she lacked a poker face before she met the officer, but for whatever reason Gail's presence seemed to magnify that deficiency tenfold.

"Oh I don't know, like the father-daughter dance for one," Gail replied, knowing Holly knew what she was talking about before the words even left her mouth.

"I don't need it," Holly answered with a shake of her head, still facing away from her. Gail sighed lightly and rounded the counter to stand beside Holly, forcing the brunette to look at her.

"You're not going to miss out on stuff like that because my parents are assholes," Gail said sincerely, hoisting herself onto the counter and sliding her back against the cabinet so the doc could see her better. Holly set the glass back in the sink and quickly dried her hands before taking Gail's into her own while stepping between the blonde's knees.

"I don't want a single moment of our wedding day to be tarnished by the idiotic decision your parents made, I don't want it to ruin anything," Holly said, looking into crystal blue eyes. "I'm perfectly ok not having every set of eyes in the room watching me dance with my father while some overly sappy song plays in the background. Besides, he and I will still dance together at some point; it just doesn't have to be a thing."

"Hol the only thing that could tarnish our day is if you didn't show up," Gail replied sincerely before squinting one eye playfully. "You are planning on showing up, right?"

Holly's only response was an eye roll and a pinch in the thigh.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," Gail continued before growing serious again. "Honestly though, I want you to have these memories with your dad. I'm sure it's something you've dreamt about since you were a little nerd so I want you to do it. It would bum me out if you didn't. Besides I'm not a very good dancer and I don't particularly like being the center of attention so I probably wouldn't do it even if my dad was going to be there," Peck said fidgeting with Holly's fingers.

Holly looked up at Gail, clearly mulling over her words.

"Please add it to the list," Gail said lowly, almost in a whisper and in that moment Holly would've given her absolutely anything she asked for.

The brunette nodded her head.

"Okay," Holly replied causing a smile to spread across Gail's face as she leaned in and pressed her lips to her fiancé's.

"Thank you," Peck said simply and hopped off the counter. She headed towards the living room before stopping short of the couch and turning back around. "Can I ask one more thing and then you can have anything else that you want for the wedding? Choice of colors, the cake, a pony…"

Holly chuckled and nodded, adoring her fiancé's enthusiasm.

"Can I pick the song for our first dance?" Gail asked, her request catching Holly off guard. "I heard something the other day that would be perfect, but I'd like for it to be a surprise."

Peck stood there looking nervous and Holly couldn't help, but smile and nod yes, deciding not to make her sweat it out. Holly loved Gail's surprises, they were always so thoughtful and perfect so she knew this would be no different.

"Really?" Gail asked in disbelief.

"Of course, I trust you," Holly replied with a warm smile as she walked over and planted a quick peck to Gail's lips.

"But if it's something like 'Pour Some Sugar on Me' don't expect me to toss my hair around and crawl across a table," Holly threw over her shoulder as she climbed the first few stairs to the second floor.

A pillow thudding into the wall beside her a moment later caused her to burst out laughing.

"You missed," she taunted and took off up the remaining stairs with Gail hot on her heels.


	20. Chapter 20- Future

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for a longer than usual delay with getting this put up here. Time kind of got away from me as I've been agonizing over every detail while writing our girls wedding (which is turning into an epic mini-series lol). I'm hoping when the time comes it comes across the way I've envisioned it, but we'll get back to that later. :)**

 **I have the next 3 chapters after this one just about edited so updates should be coming a little quicker. *fingers crossed***

 **Once again, thank you for your patience and continued support. Please don't be shy about letting me know what you think of this chapter.**

 **Ok guys, keep your hands and feet inside cuz this train is leaving the station! Enjoy!**

 **xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Chapter 20- Future

Gail trudged into the house from the garage and dropped her duffle bag beside the door as she kicked it shut behind her. After shuffling through the dining room into the kitchen and tossing her keys on the table, she rounded the breakfast bar and snagged a beer from the refrigerator before plopping down on the couch with a new magazine she'd picked up on the way home.

It had been a long uneventful day filled with numerous traffic stops.

Traffic stops meant tickets and tickets meant days tied up in court.

Peck cut people breaks when she could so her sympathy for the ones who fought the infractions was pretty close to zero. She would've found the whole thing annoying if it weren't so amusing listening to the outrageous stories people concocted to try to weasel out of their fines. Typically, it was the men who came up with the best, most elaborate excuses for why they were speeding or why they were trying to shave while driving down the highway; the women usually just cried fake tears to try to play on the court's heartstrings, but the judge usually saw through them straight away and upheld the penalties.

After popping the top on her beer and taking a long satisfying pull, she opened the magazine beside her and started to leisurely leaf through the pages, skimming the pictures as she went. Gail was so engrossed that she didn't hear Holly come into the house until she was dropping her keys on the kitchen table. The racket caused Peck to jump and quickly shut the magazine before flipping it face down on the arm of the couch, her elbow coming down to casually rest on top of it.

"Hey," Holly called out with a smile as she set her bag down on the chair and rounded the sofa to sit beside the officer. Gail's cheeks were slightly flushed and the doc could see her chest rising and falling quickly. "You ok?"

"Yeah," Gail said, with a nervous smile. "You caught me off guard; I didn't hear you come in."

"Sorry, I wasn't trying to be stealthy," Holly chuckled and leaned in to kiss her fiancé hello. "Hi," she smiled widely when she pulled back. "How was your shift?"

"Long…boring…cold…take your pick," Peck replied with a shrug as she reached out and smoothed Holly's hair back. "How about you? Did the stiffs give you any problems?"

"Ugh, the dead ones aren't the problem, it's the live ones that drive me nuts sometimes," Holly chuckled.

"What happened?" Gail asked curiously.

"We had a detective from 27th who dropped off a 9mm that he needed dusted for prints along with a few shell casings from his crime scene for a ballistics comparison. Naturally his case is the most important in the city and he wanted it moved to the top of the pile. So I had Jim, my intern, do the first comparison and analyze the casings under the microscope and then I did my own side by side comparisons and checked our findings against one another. We both reached the exact same conclusion; the casings found at the scene weren't from this gun and there were no usable prints to be pulled. So the detective comes by to pick up his report and gets upset because it proves the suspect he likes for the crime is innocent…" the doc explained.

"Let me guess, he immediately started blaming the lab…" Gail trailed off; already having a feeling she knew where this was going since she'd seen it firsthand numerous times before. Unfortunately, she'd never realized how full of shit those detectives were until she met Holly and understood the process better.

"Basically, he started questioning Jim's competency and insinuating he didn't know how to dust for prints or use a microscope correctly. He still wasn't satisfied after I explained that I had done my own analysis and reached the same conclusion; I even pulled up the side by side image comparison of both casings and pointed out the difference in the firing pin locations and the different striations from the barrels to show him the samples didn't match," Holly continued shaking her head in frustration. Gail just stared at her for a moment.

"I love when you speak nerd," the blonde said with a slow smirk and Holly chuckled.

"Yeah well that jackass is the reason I'm late, after all of that he still wanted the samples re-analyzed which caused a hell of a backlog that needed to be caught up," she said sighing heavily.

"Why were you processing evidence for 27? Traci, Sam, and company not keeping you busy enough?" Peck asked, playfully poking her fiancé with her toe. Holly simply scoffed at the officer, not dignifying that question with an answer since she knew how crazy things had been thanks to the Dowling crew gang shooting.

"What'cha got over there?" Holly asked, her eyes landing on the glossy back page of the magazine.

"Ah just passing time until you got home," Gail brushed it off before trying to change the subject. "What do you want to do for dinner?"

Holly just stared at her in silent amusement, completely aware of Gail's not-so-sly attempt at avoidance.

"Anything good?" she pressed and Gail knew she was busted.

"Don't laugh, ok" Peck said bashfully, suddenly feeling embarrassed and reluctantly flipped the book over for Holly to see.

"Why would I laugh?" Holly chuckled with confusion. "It's not like you're sitting here looking at porn or anything…not that that would be an issue, but you're doing research so you can make the most informed choice."

Holly set the dog breeders magazine on Gail's thigh, turning towards her on the couch.

"I know, but it's just…" Peck trailed off momentarily and Holly patiently waited for her to continue. "I didn't realize how bad I wanted this promotion until we talked about it and I really started diving into the details and doing the ride-alongs. I mean I've been on patrol for almost 5 years now and everyone else is starting to move up. Traci's a detective, Andy's a training officer, Nick's doing more and more undercover work, Dov's been working with Intelligence on and off even though he's dumber than a doorknob sometimes…I just feel like it's my turn to take the next step. I talked to a handler over at 27th before I left and he suggested a few breeds to read up on and go from there."

"Good, I'm glad you're excited," Holly said with a large smile, rubbing the blonde's thigh. "So show me what we're looking at," she said eagerly, scooting closer and Gail loved that Holly was this enthusiastic about it; the use of the word "we're" not lost on her and she wondered how she made it this far without having someone like Holly in her corner.

Peck opened the magazine to the earmarked pages featuring the Labrador Retriever, the German Shepard, and the Belgian Malinois and explained all the benefits of the breeds. Luckily all three were highly regarded for police work so at this point it was purely a matter of preference.

"Are you leaning more towards one than the others?" Holly asked, flipping back and forth.

"I really like all three," she started but was quickly cut off by Hol.

"Gail we're not getting three dogs…"

"I know," the blonde laughed, "I think I'm leaning more towards the Labrador. They're great trackers and have a good nose for drug detection…" Gail trailed off before adding, "and they're great with kids, which is something we need to consider."

Holly sat in stunned silence, wondering if she'd heard Gail correctly.

They'd talked about their desires to have children a few months before getting engaged, but hadn't brought it back up since. The brunette hadn't been sure how to broach the topic, not knowing when a good time was to discuss it, let alone start the process of planning it out. Her silence must've given away her shock because Gail placed her hand softly on her knee, lowering her face into Holly's eye line.

"Hol…are you ok?"

"What? Yeah, sorry…I just…kind of zoned out for a minute," Holly said, shaking her head as if to clear it. Gail chuckled at her.

"No shit…" the blonde teased, pleased when her fiancé smiled and blushed slightly. "It was the kids thing, wasn't it?"

"Yeah…it just threw me for a bit of a loop for a second," the doc replied and was surprised when she felt Gail's hand slide into her own, their fingers intertwining automatically. "In a good way though."

"Holly I want to have a family with you, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind. I want to have a pack of crazy wild banshees driving both of us insane as we grow old together," Gail said, smiling as she leaned in to place a kiss to her lips. Holly smiled into the kiss.

"I want that too, I'm ready to be a mom," the brunette replied, returning the kiss.

"Yeah?" Peck asked, pulling back for a second.

"Yeah," Holly answered closing the gap again before pulling back a moment later. "Define pack though…"

At this, Gail threw her head back and laughed hardily and shrugged haphazardly.

"I was thinking enough to field a softball team," Gail answered before giggling again and was joined by Hol.

"When did you want to start putting the roster together?" Holly asked gently, the last thing she wanted was to spook her.

Ever since she was a little girl playing with her dolls, Holly had envisioned herself becoming a mother, but the timing had always been off in her past relationships. During college she'd been with a woman who wavered between wanting children and showing no interest whatsoever. Then she'd met Amy who she'd shared a serious relationship with throughout medical school, but as graduation neared, had wanted to start a family. On the verge of beginning her budding career, Holly hadn't been ready and they'd split amicably. The timing just hadn't fit with where she'd been in her life, but now it seemed that those missteps were for good reason because while she had loved those women, it didn't compare to how she felt about the snarky blonde beside her and Holly couldn't imagine a better person than Gail to share the commitment and responsibility of having a family with.

"Well these things can take some time, right?" Gail asked.

"They can. Sometimes IVF takes a few tries before it works, plus we need to find and agree on a sperm donor," Holly said, giving Peck the cliff notes version of the process.

"We already have… _that_ …covered," Gail struggled to find the right words and Holly looked at her questioningly. "Steve actually offered his…assistance in that department if needed."

Holly nodded and thought for a moment about how that was actually a better option for them, but her silence must've been taken as hesitation.

"But we don't have to go that route though, we can find another donor," the blonde quickly added and Holly shook her head to stop her.

"No that would actually be perfect because there wouldn't be any surprises down the line with family medical history, not to mention our baby looking like you too," Holly replied, a smile spreading across her face at the prospect of seeing Gail's crystal blue eyes reflecting back at her from their child.

"So, let's start soon then, we only have 3 months to the wedding so if it works the first time you won't have to worry about your dress not fitting," Gail rattled off. "Will you?"

Now it was Holly's turn to laugh.

"I shouldn't," Holly said with a smirk before asking, "I'm still the chosen one, huh?" Sure, she had a few years on the officer in front of her, but she was by no means passed her child bearing years and the thought of going through all the phases of a pregnancy were exciting.

"Think about the safety of the city, Hol," Peck chuckled, thinking back to their previous conversation before growing serious once again.

"We should start trying soon," Gail replied and kissed her again. "If there's one thing I've learned from doing this job it's that tomorrow is never guaranteed and I don't want to waste a single second that I have with you. I'm not saying this out of fear, honestly. I just want to be the happiest I can be for the time I'm here and you, Holly, make me ridiculously happy."

Holly looked at her through blurry tear filled eyes; she loved this tender, earnest side of Gail.

"Ok," Holly said with a sniffle as a tear streaked down her cheek. "We're getting a dog and having a baby," she said taking a deep breath and smiled somewhat nervously before adding, "and getting married."

"Is it too much too quick?" Gail asked rubbing Holly's shoulder and the irony of the situation wasn't lost on the brunette since it was usually the other way around with Holly checking and consoling Gail and fearing that things were moving too fast.

"I know this means a lot of changes for us, but as long as you're by my side, I'm in," Holly said smiling like a nut as Gail grinned at her, her eyes sparkling with delight.

"I love you so much," Gail said and leaned forward, using her weight to gently push Holly back against the couch before capturing her in a passionate kiss that left them both panting heavily a short time later, the desire for this woman seemingly unquenchable.


	21. Chapter 21- Fun, Games, and Favors

**A/N: Hello again lovelies! Happy Valentine's Day! My gift to all you awesome readers is another chapter in this little adventure, I hope you like it.**

 **As always feedback is greatly appreciated so don't be shy :)**

 **Enjoy guys!**

 **XXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Chapter 21- Fun, Games, and Favors

Ever since her first impromptu visit the horrible day of the Ford shooting, Holly couldn't enter the station without goosebumps rising on her skin. She wasn't sure why exactly; could've been the memory of her first real kiss with Gail in the interrogation room when the blonde had abruptly pulled Holly to her and kissed her hard to silence her babbling. Or it could've been the memory of the first sense of sickening dread she'd felt after a lab tech had mentioned two officers from 15 taking fire in their patrol car. In the end, Gail had been one of those officers under fire, but luckily, she and Oliver escaped the ordeal unscathed.

Holly weaved her way through the quiet precinct with her patented blue folder in hand. Unlike previous trips to the station, she legitimately had a report to drop off to Sam, but truth be told, this visit also served a dual purpose. She hoped Gail and the rest of the squad had already left for patrol, granted seeing her fiancé was never a bad thing and part of her secretly wouldn't mind ten minutes alone in a dark interrogation room with the blonde bombshell, but the fewer familiar faces she ran into on this encounter the better.

"Hey doc, I hope you have some good news for me," Swarek said swinging open the D's office door for her.

"Mmm not as good as you'd like," she said regretfully. "But not horrible."

"The samples don't match?" he asked, sounding flabbergasted.

"Not exactly," Holly answered with a shake of her head as she laid the DNA sequencing charts out on the table. "See how 37 of the 67 markers are matches?"

Swarek nodded his head as she gestured.

"While the sample isn't a direct match to your suspect, it does suggest that the perp is most likely a relative; second or third generation perhaps," Holly explained pointing to similar points on the charts.

"Really?" Sam asked, suddenly feeling hopeful as he dug in a folder on his desk and produced two mugshot photos, both Caucasian men looking similar. "One of our witnesses stated he thought he saw the nephew or his uncle leaving the night of the shooting, but it was dark and couldn't be sure. I'm thinking we need to take a closer look at the uncle since the nephew has been ruled out."

"Definitively, if you get another sample, I'll be happy to run it for you."

"Thanks Holly, I appreciate it."

"Anytime," she replied with a smile, closing up the report and handing him a copy. "Have you seen Oliver around by chance? I wanted to pick his brain real quick."

"Last I saw he was in his office," Sam replied, walking over to this desk. "If you find a brain in his head to pick though let me know…"

"Will do, thanks Sam," she called over her shoulder as she made her way out the door and back into the hall. Following a short trek, she found the staff Sargent right where Swarek said he'd been. After seeing how deep in concentration he was Holly considered coming back later, but wasn't sure when she'd get another opportunity like this.

"Hey Oliver, do you have a minute?" Holly asked, poking her head inside his door after knocking.

"Of course, darlin', come on in," Oliver waved her into the office, rising to give her a hug.

"This is a pleasant surprise."

"Yeah I had a quick meeting with Sam, but I wanted to stop and see if you could help me with something," the brunette said, sounding hopeful yet hesitant.

"I'm sorry Hol, I can't arrest your intern for mixing up your samples again, but I might be persuaded to scare the hell out of him in exchange for coffee and doughnuts…" he said leaning back in his chair smugly and interlacing his fingers with a smirk causing Holly to chuckle.

"You heard about that, huh?" she asked, a mock pained expression on her face.

"I'm sure half of the city heard about it. She was pretty bummed that he cost you guys your date night," Oliver replied, bouncing in his chair. "How are the wedding plans coming along?"

"Really well actually; we have everything booked, bridesmaids dresses picked out, food menu narrowed down. Now we're just working on the guest list so we can send out the official invitations," Holly said sounding and feeling accomplished.

"Wow good for you. I know when Zoe and I got married it was borderline mass hysteria…and cost a fortune, god I don't even want to think about what a wedding would cost nowadays," he said, rubbing his neck and making a face. The thought of purposing to Celery hadn't escaped his mind, but he figured they'd have a small ceremony rather than a large grand event when the time came.

"You don't want to know, every time we make a payment on the reception hall Gail reminds me how cheap eloping somewhere tropical would've been," she chuckled before adding, "granted if she had it her way we'd probably be getting married on a Star Wars themed cruise ship and eating cheese puffs."

Oliver chuckled while nodding his head in agreement.

"Yep that's definitely our girl," he said. "You guys are having Sargent Bailey officiate the ceremony, right?"

"Yeah, Gail talked to him a few days ago and he jumped at the opportunity so that's another thing checked off the list," she nodded happily.

"You don't feel weird having an EFT officer marry you guys?"

"No I think it's kind of funny actually. I think Gail is secretly hoping someone gets out of line so she can sick Bailey on them," Holly laughed, "like if Nick tries to object or something."

Ollie chuckled once again.

"Yeah I think he'll keep everyone on their best behavior," he said, "How long before the wedding now?"

"Three months," Holly replied taking a deep breath, knowing they still had so many things to do.

"Wow, time is flying."

"Tell me about it," she laughed.

"So what's up? What can I do for you, darlin?" Shaw asked bouncing lightly in his chair again.

Holly reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper before pushing it across the desk to him, suddenly looking nervous. Ollie unfolded the slip curiously, his eyes going wide a moment later.

"No, no, no…" he said shaking his head. "This is not a good idea; you don't want to do this."

"Ollie, the worst that can happen is they say no or don't respond at all," Holly reasoned, stepping closer to his desk. "I have to at least try, for Gail."

She knew she wasn't fighting fair by adding the 'for Gail' at the end of her statement, knowing how close the two of them were. This was very important to her and if he wouldn't help her she'd find another way.

She could see the internal battle waging inside of him as he stared at the piece of paper, knowing she was asking a lot of him. After a moment of contemplation Shaw sighed heavily and turned to his computer, making a few key strokes before plucking a pen from his drawer and scribbling something down. He tossed his pen beside the keyboard, refolded the paper, and handed it back to Holly.

"You didn't get that from me," he said in a stern, fatherly tone and Holly nodded. Shaw rose from his desk and stepped around to stand in front of the brunette before continuing. "I know you're doing this for Gail, I get that, but just be careful. That could blow up in your face…"

"I know," Holly replied with a sad nod of her head before smiling reassuringly. "I'm not going to push; just extending the offer...it seems like the right thing to do."

Oliver held her gaze for a moment, nodding his head. He respected what she was trying to do and it showed how much she loved Gail, but it still worried him. The number of things that could go wrong were endless and so for his friend's sake, he prayed it worked out.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

Dov and Chris were having a relatively uneventful day. They had made a few traffic stops here and there and walked through the park, but for the most part it had been pretty quiet.

"So, what are you thinking for lunch?" Chris asked when they stopped at a red light.

"It's Tamale day," Dov replied happily, glancing out the window as the radio on the dashboard squawked to life.

"All available units in the area of 8th and Clark, we have reports of a male assaulting an unarmed female, please respond," the dispatcher's voice came through.

"10-4 central, 15-03 responding," Dov replied as Diaz flicked on the lights and rolled through the intersection, making a right onto Buchannan and flooring it.

"15-05 to 15-03, we're approaching from the south end," Collins's voice reported a moment later.

"15-01 coming from the east," McNally chimed in.

"10-4," Dov said.

"Really?" Chris sighed, rolling his eyes as they quickly approached the fighting couple. "It's Red, again."

"Who's Red?" Epstein asked, with a puzzled look on his face.

"He's an area pimp…and I'm willing to bet that's one of his girls," Diaz said, nodding to the woman being slapped as they screeched to a halt. Red looked up at the sound of the squealing tires and took off running when he saw it was the cops. Dov jumped out of the cruiser before it even came to a complete stop and started giving chase.

"I'll stay with her," Chris yelled as he hopped out of the squad and ran over to the weeping woman lying on her side with a torn t-shirt and bloody lip. "It's ok ma'am, you're going to be all right."

Ahead of him, Collins whipped around the corner, quickly gaining on Diaz.

"Dispatch I need an ambulance to this location. Be advised the suspect is about 6 feet tall, about 220 pounds, wearing a red t-shirt and baggy jeans, goes by the alias of Red," Diaz said over the radio. "Nick swing around to 7th and try to head them off, Dov's on foot,"

"Got it," Collins replied and made a hard left.

"Stop! Police!" Dov shouted, running after Red. "Stop right there!"

Red didn't so much as hesitate; instead he took a left and headed down the alley, knocking over a few garbage cans as he went. Dov quickly rounded the corner a moment later, jumping over the receptacles as Red hopped a fence at the end of the alley.

"Heading west on Arthur," Dov reported, climbing the fence. As he landed he heard rapid footsteps approaching and quickly drew his gun spinning around.

"Woah, woah, woah! It's me!" Chloe said, holding her hands up in front of her and Epstein quickly lowered his weapon.

"Who are we after?" she asked.

"Chris said it was some guy named Red," Dov replied, taking a few quick steps down the block.

"Probably beating one of his girls again," Chloe said and turned towards the street and Dov idly wondered how everyone but him knew who this guy was. "Keep heading that way, I'll try to head him off on King."

Dov and Chloe took off in their separate directions once again. As Epstein neared another alley the sound of a rolling glass bottle caught his attention. He redrew his weapon and slowly entered the dingy cramped alleyway behind an apartment complex.

Forty yards in, his radio came to life nearly causing him to jump out of his skin.

"This is Peck, I have the suspect in sight in the courtyard of the Meadowbrook Apartments," Gail's voice sounded and Dov took off once again, right behind the location in question.

"Entering Meadowbrook Apartments from 7th," he said into his radio as Collins pulled to a stop at the curb, following him inside. Dov raced down the first-floor hall, turning corner after corner. The pair ran past a set of windows looking into a grassy courtyard and found Red on his knees with Gail a few yards away holding him at gunpoint.

"There, Gail's got him," Nick said and they took off for the nearest exit, the door swinging open into the cool breeze.

"Keep your hands on your head," Peck ordered sternly as Chloe entered the courtyard a half a step ahead of the boys and immediately holstered her weapon in favor of her cuffs. With Nick grabbing one wrist and pulling Red's arm behind his back Chloe slapped the first cuff on followed by the second.

"Dispatch, this is 15-03…" Dov panted, pausing to take another breath, "suspect in custody."

"You should've stopped back at the park, Red. Now you're looking at resisting arrest on top of your original assault charge," Nick said, helping the pimp stand up and beginning to search their suspect.

"Man, I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't know it was you guys, I was scared," Red said looking between the officers.

"Really? The 'stop, Police' wasn't clue enough for you?" Epstein asked, as Collins' hand hesitated at Red's waistband.

"What do we have here?" Nick asked, lifting the pimp's shirt and pulling out a 9mm pistol. "Whoa…"

"Man, that's not mine," Red claimed and Dov chuckled despite the seriousness of the situation.

"Really? Who's is it then?" Epstein asked, already knowing where this line of questioning was going, suddenly very thankful that Red hadn't made an attempt to draw the gun on them.

"I don't know," the pimp shrugged. "But it ain't mine."

"Did you not dress yourself this morning?" Nick asked once Gail had ejected the magazine and cleared the breach.

Diaz opened the door on the east side of the courtyard with Andy stepping in behind him.

"The cruisers out front to transport him," Diaz said, thumbing towards the front of the complex. Gail walked over and handed him Red's gun.

"How's the woman?" the blonde asked before stepping through the door.

"A little banged up, but she'll be ok," he answered sounded relieved and watched as Collins marched their prisoner out towards the squad.

"Nothing like a little excitement before lunch," Chloe said, patting Dov on the back as he took a puff from his inhaler. "You ok?"

He nodded his head, stuffing the device back into his cargo pocket, his cheeks still a bit flushed.

"More like a lot of paperwork before lunch," he replied with a huff, following the others out towards the cars.

All Dov wanted to do was eat, but now that would have to wait a little while longer.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

"Is Oliver coming?" Gail asked as she and the boys entered the cantina to join their friends for their weekly lunch tradition.

Tamales was a small, hole in the wall authentic Mexican restaurant nestled in the business district downtown. It was one of those places where if you didn't know it was there you'd drive right passed it, making it a cozy favorite amongst locals. The small group of officers often found themselves here for dinner and margaritas before heading over to the Penny for a nightcap so they were no strangers to the Hispanic family that ran the restaurant.

"No, he said he had some reviews to catch up on," Dov replied as he waved to one of the cooks through the kitchen window, most of the staff knowing them now on a first name basis.

"What about Holly?" Chris asked, pulling out the chair next to Nash.

"I don't know, she's supposed to text and let me know," the blonde replied, tossing her phone on the table before pulling off her jacket and taking a seat across from Traci. "She was swamped when I talked to her earlier."

"After what went down on Remington Ave. last night I can't say I'm surprised," Traci said, shaking her head. "The poor lab is going to be bogged down with that mess for days."

"Speaking of, what the hell happened down there?" Chris asked the detective; subconsciously leaning in closer like it was some sort of secret.

"From what Steve said it was a drug deal gone bad. Something about a new player in town trying to move in on the Dowling's turf…we all know how that ends," Traci replied, perusing the menu despite already knowing she was getting her usual meal.

"Dumbasses…" Gail trailed off, shaking her head. "Haven't these guys ever watched a movie or something? Don't they know it's going to end badly?" she asked rhetorically.

"You know that must be a Peck thing because your brother said pretty much the same thing when his phone went off this morning," Nash commented and Gail dropped her menu flat on the table, glaring at Traci. "That man does not like to be woken up that early."

"Peck's are generally not morning people," Chris said with a smirk and a shrug.

"Are you trying to make me lose my appetite?" the blonde asked and Traci gave her a quizzical look, not quite following. "You and my brother…in bed…together…gross…"

"You were the one who suggested I get back on the horse after all," Nash said, leaning back in her chair and giving Gail a mock challenging stare.

"Ugh don't remind me," Peck replied rolling her eyes.

"Who has a horse?" Nick asked as he and Chloe joined the group.

"God, take me now," Gail muttered, checking her phone once again as the waitress came over and brought them a couple baskets of chips and salsa.

"Afternoon officers," the waitress said sweetly, glancing around the table as she set their drinks down in front of them.

"Really? Officers?" Chris asked with a smile. "Letty, you know all of us."

"Just showing respect to the uniforms is all," Letty smiled with a shrug. "So, what are you having? The usual?" she asked not bothering to grab a pen or notepad and receiving nods all the way around. "Alright we'll have it out shortly."

"Thanks, Let," Traci called after the girl who gave her a quick wave.

Everyone fell into side conversations, snacking and having a laugh as they tried to relax before continuing on with their shift. Gail's phone buzzed on the table, grabbing her attention.

"Damn…Holly's not coming," Gail said frowning, typing out a quick reply to the doc before dropping the device back onto the table.

"Where's Andy?" Chris suddenly asked noticing the empty seat kitty corner from him.

"She had me drop her off down the street to have lunch with Swarek," Peck answered.

"Awww," Chloe cooed and Gail looked at her sideways. She swore the woman was Walt Disney incarnate.

"I feel like I could eat a cow after that foot chase," Dov said, shoving a salsa filled chip in his mouth.

"Yeah you were really flying there, asthma boy," Gail commented.

"I chased his ass for 4 blocks before you caught him," he replied.

"Yeah, I caught him cuz you couldn't catch up to him to do it yourself," Peck teased and Diaz shrugged indifferently when Dov looked to him for support; Chris couldn't deny that Gail had a point, Red wasn't close to being caught.

"You had just hopped out of the cruiser and had fresh legs, not exactly fair," Epstein slightly whined, looking around the table for help. Chloe rubbed his arm sympathetically.

"Like it would've mattered," Gail commented under her breath as she took a sip of water. She loved poking fun at Dov, especially when he started to get riled up like he was.

"You don't seriously think you're faster than me?" Dov asked skeptically, sitting back in his chair.

"She has been working out a lot more lately," Nick chipped in, secretly knowing he was adding fuel to the fire. He'd seen Gail in the gym nearly every day doing cardio and light weights and had a feeling it had to do with the new K-9 position opening up, but hadn't approached her about it yet.

"Guys, let's dial it back a bit here," Traci piped-in in true motherly fashion, trying to keep the peace. "The important thing is we got another strong-armed pimp off the street before he could do any real harm."

"You want to race?" Dov challenged across the table as if Nash hadn't spoken.

"If you're not scared," Gail replied casually with a shrug. Chris swore he could see Dov's temperature rising and had to fight to keep from smiling, knowing full well Gail was feeding into his friend's competitive nature.

"Let's go," he replied.

After reassuring Letty they were coming right back in, the group of officers found themselves standing in the alley behind the restaurant. Gail and Dov stood at the "starting line" with Nick casually leaning against the building with Traci while Chris and Chloe stood at the other end of the alley near the break in the buildings holding a strip of caution tape between them as a makeshift finish line tape.

"You guys ready?" Chloe called?

"You can still back out," Gail said lowly as Price raised her arm and the pair nodded. "Could say you pulled a muscle earlier…"

"Not a chance," Dov smirked, glancing at her sideways and getting set.

"Go!" Chloe yelled, dropping her arm and the two took off like a shot, the sound of their boots and shifting gun belts filling the narrow space. Their lungs burned and muscles ached as they sprinted down the pavement. The race was incredibly close, but in the end Gail broke through the caution tape a full stride ahead of him.

Epstein and Peck jogged to a stop before they both doubled over trying to catch their breaths; accepting defeat and swallowing his pride, Dov reached out and offered his fist in congratulations which to his surprise Gail gracishly pounded lightly.

"Nice job blondie," he panted, reaching for his inhaler for the second time today.

"Guys! Your food is ready," Letty hollered from the back door of the kitchen and the group made their way back inside.

They spent the next half hour chatting and eating their lunch hungrily while reminiscing about their time together at the academy, the race all but forgotten.

"Ugh, I could go for a nap after that," Dov sighed, pushing his emptying plate into the center of the table as Chloe rested her head on his shoulder, smiling. He turned his head and placed a quick kiss on her forehead.

"Was it the ass-whooping or the food?" Nick asked with a smile.

"The food," Dov replied in mock bitterness.

"I don't know why you do that to yourself every time we come here, you're going to be miserable the rest of the day," Gail chided as Dov loosened his lower vest straps a bit for further emphasis.

"It's so worth it," he replied with a satisfied grin.

"Thank god I don't have to ride with you after all that," Gail said, nodding toward his plate.

"Yay, lucky me," Chris replied and they all joined in to laugh.

Once the bills were paid, they made their way back out to the squad cars.

"Guys, kick ass lunch! I'll see you all at the Penny later," Dov said with a wave and a quick kiss to Chloe's cheek before walking over to the driver's side and opened the door.

"Dude, who said you could drive?" Diaz called out.

"I did because I have the keys," Epstein deadpanned and motioned for Chris to climb in who suddenly looked like a deer in headlights as he realized his partner had swiped the keys from the table without him knowing it.

Tracy and Gail snickered at the boys who carried on like brothers providing them with plenty amusement.

"Are those two ever going to grow up?" Traci asked as they watched them pull away from the curb, Collins and Price doing the same a moment later.

"Not likely," Gail replied with a shake of her head.

"Well at least there's never a dull moment with those two," Traci laughed and Gail nodded.

"Holly and I are trying to have a baby," Gail suddenly said, the rapid change in subject taking Nash by surprise momentarily.

"Yeah Steve mentioned that you guys were thinking about it," Traci replied with a smile.

"We had our consultation with the Invetro doc last week," Peck said lightly.

"Oh wow, I didn't know you guys were actually starting now, that's great though," Nash exclaimed as an ear to ear grin spread across her face.

"Are you ok with Steve offering to help though? I know this is kind of a weird situation, believe me I'm still getting used to it myself," the blonde said, shaking her head as if physically trying to wrap her head around it.

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?"

"Well cuz technically he'll have a child with another woman…my wife," Gail replied, making a face still not liking the way it sounded, but reminding herself to focus on the benefits of Steve being their donor.

"But Gail it's not like that, it's not like I'm going to have a crazy ex to deal with or any of the baggage and complications that comes along with the scenario you're implying, " the detective chuckled, knowing Gail had to be struggling with it. "You and Holly are going to be a mom while Steve and I get to be the cool aunt and uncle who spoils your child rotten, it wouldn't be any different if you didn't know who the donor was," she reasoned, her tone soothing and reassuring.

Gail took a deep breath and let it out.

"What's wrong? Something about this is bothering you," Traci asked, knowing her friend.

"I think I keep getting caught up on the labels and technicalities of it all. Steve is my brother and Holly will be my wife so technically I'm just an aunt or stepmom? Or both…"

"You need to stop, all right? You are going to be that baby's mother just as much as Holly is. It's going to you at the ultrasounds and doctors' appointments, it's going to be you who gets to hear the baby's heartbeat and show off the first ultrasound picture, you're the one in the delivery room supporting Holly. That's you, not Steve or anyone else cuz that's your baby," the detective reasoned. "Besides, you guys don't have to tell anyone who the donor is if you don't want to. For all anyone knows you guys picked someone out of a book."

"That doesn't sound much better," Gail chuckled, clearly relaxing a bit as Traci's words sunk in and realized she was getting hung up on silly stuff. "You're right though."

"You bet your ass I'm right," Traci fired back with a confident smirk. "When do you start?"

"Our first treatment is in a few weeks," Gail answered feeling a mixture of excitement and nervousness. "I still have to talk to Steve."

"So before the wedding?"

"Yeah the doctor said it could take a few attempts before we get pregnant," Peck explained.

"Might as well start now then," Traci shrugged.

A comfortable silence settled over them for a moment.

"Are you sure you're ok with this?" Gail asked quickly and Traci bumped shoulders with her, silently telling her to cut it out.

"I'll see you back at the station," the detective laughed and stepped off the curb to her car.

 **XXXXXXXXX**

After Holly's visit, Oliver's day had been relatively quiet.

Luckily for him -and the rest of the division if he were being honest- Duncan Moore had had the day off which easily translated into him having a relaxed and mostly stress free day. Ollie didn't know what to do with the kid, part of him wanted to rip the white shirt from his own chest and trade it in for the comfortable blue patrol uniform and train the young officer himself. It wasn't that he didn't trust McNally to do it, it was just that Duncan was proving to be more of a challenge than expected; Moore's step-dad being the Chief of Police certainly wasn't helping matters either.

Oliver understood the challenges and pressures that came along with being the offspring of police royalty, hell he'd been Gail Peck's FTO for a good chunk of her rookie year and she'd turned out to be one of his best people. Duncan's own FTO, Andy McNally was another shining example of a second-generation officer who was thriving, she was relatable and while a bit scatter brained at times was a damn fine cop to learn from. So the 65 million dollar question was why wasn't Duncan getting it?

Naturally officers right out of the academy thought they knew it all, that was a given, but while the academy taught them what they needed to know procedurally and legally it failed to teach them about the realities of the streets. Times had changed, no longer did children run to the curbs to wave at them when they drove by; nowadays people would rather spit at them then talk to them. Trying to find witnesses to the crimes being committed was becoming more and more difficult now that "being a snitch" was prevalent in society. The concept of not helping the police catch who was committing these heinous crimes which only aided in the continual harm of their neighborhood baffled Oliver to no end.

It was a mixture of multiple factors and overconfidence that were hindering Moore from becoming the officer he had the potential to be and if things didn't change soon he was going to have to escalate things up the brass. He didn't want to and knew it wouldn't look good on him or his division, but if it meant keeping his fellow officers and his city safe he would.

"Hey, you got a minute?" Gail asked, poking her head into Staff Sergeant Shaw's office. Oliver looked up from the report he was reading and eagerly waved her in.

"Dear God yes, please come in," Oliver said tossing the papers aside and rubbing his eyes wearily. "I can't look at that another second, Duncan is going to be the death of me…"

"Or one of us…" she said slipping into one of the chairs in front of his desk and Ollie sighed. "It's that bad, huh?"

"I wouldn't say bad, but he's certainly not good," he answered vaguely. "I don't remember you guys being like this. Sure you all had your blunders and mishaps, but not like this…" he tapped the offending file with distain. "Anyways, what's going on darlin'?" Oliver asked, his face brightening as he folded his hands on the desktop giving the blonde his full attention.

Gail sat nervously and actually forgot for a split second why she'd swung by on her way out to begin with. In her head, she knew what she wanted to ask him, but somewhere along the way the words were lost. She tried to will her brain and her mouth to get on the same page as she nervously swiveled side to side in the chair.

 _'Why am I more nervous to ask him this than I was to ask Holly to marry me?'_ she thought briefly.

Oliver blinked a few times before raising his brows, feeling a sense of déjà vu after having Holly in here earlier that same morning.

Gail rang her fingers together before slapping her hands on the arm rests, taking the plunge before she lost her nerve all together.

"Look I'm not good at this sort of thing so I'm just going to throw it out there," she began as Oliver looked at her with concern. "I'd really like it if you would give me away."

"Peck I've been trying to give you away for years, hell I've even tried paying someone to take you, but…" Oliver stopped when he saw how serious she was. He took a deep breath and absently pushed at a pen on his desk. "Gail I'm flattered, really I am, but don't you think Steve is more the man for the job? I don't want to step on anyone's toes or anything…"

"No Steve is my best man, I wanted to make him my maid of honor, but he's refusing to wear the dress. He gets the hard jobs like putting together my bachelorette party and making sure I don't drink too much before the ceremony. You, my little donut buddy, only have to make sure I don't fall on my face on the way down the aisle. That's it," Gail said, brushing her hands together simply. "After that you get to hang with Celery and drink my free booze."

"Wouldn't I be able to do that anyways?"

"Technically yes," Gail replied and watched him mulling it over, deciding to go with a different approach, one she knew he couldn't refuse. "It would really mean a lot to me, Oliver," she said sincerely, unleashing the full weight of her blue eyes.

Oliver groaned and waved his hand.

"No, no, don't do that, don't give me the Peck puppy dog eyes, that's not fair," he said holding his hand up as if to shield himself from them. He dropped his arm onto his desk with a heavy thud and accompanying sigh.

"All right, I'll do it," he said causing Gail to break out her biggest, cheekiest smile she reserved for only her favorite people. She jumped out of her chair and quickly rounded his desk, pulling him into a surprising hug.

"Thank you Ollie," she said rubbing his shoulder and giving him a squeeze. Shaw smiled and squeezed her back.

"You betcha," he replied before she released him from the embrace and practically skipped to the door. "Are you and the soon-to-be-Mrs. coming to the Penny tonight? I think you owe me a drink."  
"No not tonight, we have to get the invitations finished and sent out," Gail answered with a pout, not looking forward to the feat ahead.

"Ok fine, I guess I'll have one for you," Oliver said, his tone making it sound like it was a chore and she giggled.

"Hey Peck," he called, his tone now serious as her hand rested on the handle and she turned around to face him. "I would've done it even without the puppy dog eyes."

Gail smiled and nodded her head.

"I know cuz I'm awesome," she smirked before heading out into the bullpen.


	22. Chapter 22- Invitations

Chapter 22- Invitations

"I still think we should've just emailed everyone…or made a Facebook invite," Gail said, her face lighting up at the second suggestion as Holly handed her another envelope in need of a stamp.

"Gail…" Holly said in playful warning, closing another envelope before passing it to the blonde.

"I'm just saying we could've saved ourselves some money and aggravation," Peck said simply with a shrug and Holly couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips at the thought of what the look would've been like on her mother's face if she'd received a Facebook event invite for her daughter's wedding.

"Ok that's the last of them," Holly said, stuffing the final invitation into the envelope before handing it to Gail who peeled yet another stamp off the never-ending roll in front of her and slapped it home.

The pair had been sitting at the dining room table for the past two hours putting the finishing touches on their wedding invitations, piles of envelopes and invitations laid strewn about the surface.

"Thank god, I think my fingers are about to fall off," Gail whined, glaring at the completed stacks in the center of the table.

"Well that's too bad because I had plans for those later, but…" the doc trailed off with a shrug as she rose from the table, arching a brow suggestively. Gail quickly jumped to her feet, her hand balling into the bottom of the brunette's shirt and pulling her in close.

"Did I mention I'm a quick healer?" Peck asked with a smirk and Holly chuckled, pressing a light kiss to her lips.

"You're some kind of medical miracle all right," Holly trailed off with a smirk of her own. "Shouldn't it be Andy's hands that hurt since she graciously addressed all the envelopes for us?"

"Hey it's not my fault she was eager to bust out her calligraphy pen again and go to town. Besides we both know I wouldn't have had the patience to do it and the post office wouldn't have been able to read your chicken scratch doctor writing…" Gail trailed off. Holly laughed, knowing that wasn't true since she took pride in her penmanship. "Maybe we can talk her into filling out the seat arrangement once these people RSVP…"

Holly shook her head, chuckling. "You're out of control…Did you figure out what movie you want to watch?"

"No because it doesn't really matter since we won't be watching it anyway," Gail shrugged, grinning with confidence as she ran her hands down her fiancé's sides.

"Mmm," Holly hummed deep in her throat, "is that right?"

"Gotta practice, I wouldn't want to let my wife down on our wedding night," the blonde smirked playfully, surprised that the use of the "w" word hadn't freaked her out yet.

"Every night with you is special and believe me, you've never let me down," Holly replied, placing a sweet kiss to Gail's lips. "Do you want to grab us some beers and get the soundtrack to our make-out session ready while I finish cleaning this up?"

"Sure," Peck replied, secretly thrilled to be getting out of clean-up duty and headed into the kitchen.

Holly waited until she heard Peck banging around in the cupboards before she reached into her back pocket and removed the piece of paper with the info she'd asked Oliver for. She quickly grabbed another invitation and blank envelope from the table and copied the address on the front before sealing it shut, slapping a stamp on it, and shoving it into the center of the pile waiting to be mailed in the morning.

As Holly straightened the stack of invitations Gail walked up behind her with two beers in one hand and a bag of cheese puffs in the other and pressed the cold bottle to the side of the brunette's neck with a mischievous giggle. Startled by the sudden chill, Holly jumped, losing her grip on the stack of envelopes and dropping the pile to the floor, the invitations fanning out in all directions.

"Shit, sorry, that's my fault," Gail apologized, quickly setting the beer down on the table before crouching down beside the doc to help; feeling like a total ass for causing the mess Holly had just cleaned up.

"No it's ok, I can get this, go set up the movie," Holly replied quickly gathering the strewn invitations, trying to keep her panic at bay when Gail suddenly stopped, flipping an envelope around towards her.

"What's this?" Peck asked feeling a cold pit form in her stomach, but Holly continued cleaning up, avoiding Gail's question. "This is addressed to my parents…"

"Hmm, maybe they were on the list we gave Andy," Holly tried to play it off with a shrug, still avoiding Gail's gaze.

"It doesn't take a detective to know Andy didn't write this, I'd recognize your scribbling anywhere," the blonde continued. "Hol, why are you sending my parents an invite? They clearly want nothing to do with us…at this point the feeling is pretty much mutual."

Holly sighed heavily, leaning back on her heels before finally meeting Gail's blue gaze.

"I thought it was right for them to have the choice to come to the wedding, you being their only daughter and all," she said, bracing for Gail's wrath. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed you'd be ok with it, I should've asked you first."

"You're damn right you should have," Gail said, shaking her head, running her hand through her hair. "Hol, don't get involved in this anymore than you already have."

"I know, I'm sorry. I thought..." Holly began only to be cut off immediately.

"You thought wrong," Gail snapped at her and Holly visibly recoiled. She'd witnessed Gail use this tone with others, but it had never been directed at her before and she instantly didn't like it. "I know you think you can fix every situation by just waving your magic wand at it and everything will be sunshine and rainbows, but I'm not something you can fix, Holly," she said, almost glaring at the woman on the other side of the table.

"Gail I never said you were broken," the doc began, not understanding where this was coming from. "I've never treated you as such."

"Everyone else always did," Gail replied with a shrug and Holly could see the hurt in her blue eyes. She knew she messed up by not asking Gail about inviting her parents to the wedding, but never did she intend for it to come across as the blonde being a project she needed to fix. That was the furthest thing from the truth.

"That's not fair," Holly replied, tilting her head and giving Gail a stern look, an unsettling sense of déjà vu washing over her. She took a deep breath and let it out. Though it had been a while, she knew Gail was in the process of becoming a cat and creating an emergency situation; she just had to keep calm and weather the storm.

"Life rarely is, Hol..." Gail said sadly, pulling on her coat and beanie and heading towards the front door.

"Hey, don't go. Let's sit down and work this out," Holly said, gesturing towards the living room, watching Gail internally debate for a moment before snatching the handle and walking out.

Holly stood in stunned silence and disbelief at how quickly their evening had taken a turn for the worse. She stared at the front door, silently willing Gail to walk back in and be rational about this, but knew it wouldn't happen, not yet anyway.

Gail had clearly been hurt by her attempt to do what Holly thought was right and now she had to pay the price regardless if she thought she deserved to or not. She knew it was futile to chase after the blonde and try to reason with her, such an act would only agitate Gail further when she clearly needed space to cool down and process everything. Holly closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to calm her nerves and grabbed her keys and coat, heading out the door herself.

A drink sounded pretty damn good right about now.


End file.
